The Night of Nox
by Scriptophobia99
Summary: A friendship that roared into a fiery situation of kidnapping and experimentation. Can Dr. Johnathon Crane handle his own creation? Can rvana Nelson survive the longest night of her life? With villains coming from the wood works to get their hands on the newest recruit into the underbelly of Gotham City, can both doctors really get what they want in the end?Crane/OC, Elseworld
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! My name is Sam and I am the author of this story. This all started from a dream I had about a day ago and between my boyfriend who is a Batman fanatic and my future roommate who is a Batman Encyclopedia, they both said I should turn it into a fan fiction and we could see how the rest of the Batman fans on here felt about it! Just as a heads up, this will be written in first and third person. It will capture the point of view from each character.**

 **This story takes place more in a free universe. Think Arkham Video Games Joker and Harley and Penguin and so on but think of a more Scarecrow. A Scarecrow before he got caught. The main characters in this story will Johnathon Crane/OC. As the story continues more Batman universe characters will be introduced, such as Joker, Poison Ivy, Penguin, Riddler, Bane, Dick Grayson (as Nightwing), Jim Gordon, etc etc etc.**

 **Please note that I am 100% okay with critisim. I love it when someone takes the time to help me become a better writer but I do not do well with someone being rude. So please feel free to leave comments with advice but make them constructive because if they are mean I'll cry D:**

 **And without further ado, I present, Nox**

Life was hard in Gotham. It was always hard in Gotham, between the poverty that sat above all those below the Waynes and every other famous family with riches beyond most of the imaginations of all those beneath them and the crime of those who were either desperate or insane, it has never been an easy task to remain calm. The worst of it all remained nestled between the under belly of the city, the slums of Gotham. The Narrows. It reeked of sadness, depression, and death. It seemed the sun never even shined on the streets. Just grey skies and darkness. No stars shone on the dirty faces living in its disgusting habitat of robbery and murder.

Sometimes people could claw themselves out of the dirt and grime but it was so rare that when it happens, no one ever believed that person would remain out of the slums for too long. That had always been the case with Nirvana. A woman born who sat above her classmates all through high school, with an above 4.0 all four years, that she was able to get a partial ride to Harvard. With the help of the Wayne Education Fund, the rest of her expenses were paid for. She went off to college and focused her studies on Psychology and Criminology. She used every dime she could from her scholarships and grants and 8 years later, at the age of 26, she walked out with her doctorate in both subjects. But she knew her greatness would never lie in the posh hospitals of Massachusetts or sitting in a small office with a part ownership with someone else. No. She knew exactly where she belonged. So she took the last of her money she earned working side jobs during college and moved back to Gotham. Many would assume that being raised in the Narrows would have been enough to keep her away forever but instead she came sprinting back. Right to her new home. Arkham Asylum.

The screams and cries of the mentally insane and the threats of the diabolical criminals behind its padded walls were something most people ran from but Nirvana... She had a special place in her heart for Gotham. She needed to help it's ragged underlings, whether to help heal them or to help the people of the city by keeping them behind the walls of the asylum. Her mission was to help the city even in this small way. She wanted to become something great for the city of Gotham. She hoped it would be within Arkham. Her ideals were noble. If not a bit naive.

She got the opportunity with ease and when she had passed the others interviewing, she hadn't seen much competition. Not to toot her own horn, but she could see true competition a mile away and only saw one man she felt had a chance against her. She noticed him quickly. A lanky body yet not unhealthy. Dark brown hair and when he looked up as she walked by, she found a pair of startling blue eyes looking into her fierce green ones. She was almost taken back by the awkward structure of his face. High cheekbones with a gaunt appearance to his cheeks. His nose was thin and his lips were large, strangely so in comparison to his delicate face. She continued her stride right past him and she thought nothing more about him afterwards.

When she got the call for a second interview, she had dressed in her most professional. Her long black hair was draped over her shoulder, straight as a pin and glossy in the light. Her face was painted in a modest amount of make up. Green eyes framed by long black eyelashes and dark brown eye liner. She wore a black dress suit with a pop of gold in her earrings and wrist watch. With her sleeves rolled up and her shoulders straight with an air of confidence around her, she walked back into Arkham for the second time. Ready to dominate whoever they thought would do well against her.

She walked into the head office and saw no one around. She believed for a moment that the second interview was just a formality. She had already gotten the job. But even if this wasn't true, she already had an interview set up for Black Gate Prison as the head psychiatrist there. She soon heard the doors open however, and in walked the lanky man, dressed in a black suit with a silver tie. His eyes caught hers and she smiled directly at him and he stayed stoic but a smirk appeared on his full lips. He moved and took a seat across from her in the lobby. After this, they remained mostly silent aside from polite small talk. The noise echoing around the Asylum was enough to break the silence and the two sat comfortably across from one another. She glanced over as the man reached down and pulled up his brief case. He pulled out a folder and flipped it open and kept his eyes down.

She gently tilted her head before realizing he was looking at his resume. She smirked slightly.

"I feel like no matter how many times I redo my resume, it never looks the way I want it to," she stated coolly, picking up her own black folder and flipping to the first page, "I feel like paper doesn't really do my mind justice, I suppose," she added, shaking her head before looking up at him. His crystal eyes seemed to glow under the flickering florescent as he gave a very small smile when he answered.

"I know what you mean. How am I supposed to clearly show how amazing I am by handing someone a piece of paper," he stated, a condescending air to his voice. The tone of his voice was both soothing and enough to keep someone on edge. Nirvana smirked at his reply before handing her resume to him.

"Let's switch. I always liked to learn about the people I'm better than," she stated coolly, a perfectly shaped eyebrow raised and a smirk playing on her pink lips. When his eyes looked at the folder, she wiggled it slightly and added, "Come on, it won't bite," she put her hand out for his resume and he quickly slipped his folder into her hand while he took hers.

She sat back in her chair and opened his resume with gentle hands, not wanting to mess up the pages. The paper was thick and sturdy and the ink had an indent upon the pages in a dark black color. She ran her fingers over the words gently before they lingered on his name, "Doctor Johnathon Crane. What a wonderful name," she stated out loud though not to get a response out of him. His voice came up after hers.

"Doctor Nirvana Nelson," he stated, "Graduated top of her class from Havard with a doctorate in Psychology and Criminology."

"Gotham State University. Graduated top of his class in... let's see, Psychology and Medicine," she added as she continued, looking through his resume.

"Worked as an assistant in a psychology office in Massachusetts, as well as worked as a reporter for a local news paper. Did on the side work at Mass. Penitentiary as a psychologist for inmates and also did a few classes within the FBI for profiling serial killers," Dr. Crane added softly before looking up at her with interested eyes, "Why come back to Gotham at all, Dr. Nelson?"

She looked up at him with a small smile before her eyes went back down to his resume, "You also work as a professor of Psychology at Gotham State University," she added, before her own eyes looked back at his, "Why stay in Gotham with a resume this extensive, Dr. Crane?"

He furrowed together for a moment before that same stoic expression plastered on his face and he looked back down at her resume and kept reading. She did the same, leaving the subject where it layed. They stayed silent again before hearing the footsteps that approached them both and they looked up to see a stout woman with grey hair and in nurse scrubs bustling towards them, "Are you the new hires then?" She asked, her voice giving away that she had no intention of her time being wasted.

"Yes," both answered, subtly handing back each others resumes before standing up. So Nirvana was right. The 'second interview' was merely a formality.

"Well let's go, I don't have all day. We've got big guests coming in today and you'll both be dealing with them so be prepared," she stated before bustling her way back down the hall with Crane and Nelson in tow. Both looked at one another before smirking at one another.

"Good to work with you, Dr. Crane," Nirvana stated politely but her smirk still stayed on her lips.

"You as well, Dr. Nelson," he replied back, pushing his hair out of his face as they walked a fast pace to follow the short woman.

They moved through the asylum with quick steps. They were shown their lockers and both quickly stowed away their things and we're on the move again. The tiny woman showed them each level of the asylum by pointing them out on the elevator but neither doctor took a step on that level and were told to ride the elevator to the bottom floor. This floor belonged to maximum security inmates.

"Since you're both _sooo_ well trained, they decided you'd be better use with the scum. You'll meet a man named Cash down there. He'll take you the rest of the way," the woman snipped, her disdain obvious in her tone. Both Doctors thanked her. They stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close before looking at each other and then looking back to the cold elevator doors as they shut tightly and rattled it's way down to the bottom floor.

 **And that is the first episode! I know it's not a super exciting first chapter but I was hoping to set the stage and the main character. It will pick up the pace within the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**So we have a couple of new characters being introduced in this chapter but not much detail will be given to this but as a way to welcome both doctors directly into the fold. Both villains mentioned will take more after the Arkham-verse.**

 **I hope you enjoy and I would love feedback!**

The sound of their footsteps almost made the place sound like home immediately. When they stepped out of the elevator, they walked with matching strides down, even in pace, steps hitting the loud tile floor with an authoritative thump that seemed to rattle to its bones. Dr. Crane and Dr. Nelson kept their eyes set ahead of them. The two almost seemed like kin, with their dark hair, pale skin, and bright eyes, only differing in body types. The wiry man off set by the curvaceous woman. They stayed silent as Dr. Crane opened the door for her politely and she nodded gratefully, stepping through the doorway to see an average looking man. With dark weathered skin and tired yet serious eyes, he wore a security outfit with his hands tucked behind his back and his head straight forward as he took in the new recruits. His brown eyes traveled each before giving a slight roll of his eyes. Both doctors straightened their stance as both caught wind of this small facial movement. They were psychologists. Seeing things for what they really were is what they do. When he spoke, his voice held a gruff air to it, a voice of a man who had seen his fair share in his life.

"So these are the new recruits? Hopefully you'll last more than one day, unlike the other ones," the man spoke coolly, his voice giving away to strong sarcasm as he moved over to a metal table in the room when he took his hands out from behind his back, both Nirvana and Jonathan took subtle note to a two-pronged hook taking the place of where a hand should have been. "My name is Aaron Cash. I am the head security here at Arkham and what I says goes. I don't believe in the rehabilitation of these monsters, but someone with a lot of money does. You two lucky shots have gotten the great task of dealing with the worst of the worst. But you need more than a degree and good credentials to make it out of here alive every day," he spoke bluntly and boredly, as if he had done this speech a thousand times before. Both doctors simply nodded and waited for Cash to continue.

"Today we are getting two especially violent inmates, and you have the privilege of working with either or. I left that decision up to the both of you. Both are return inmates and both are extreme flight risks. Your jobs will be to keep them calm and help avoid agitation. Trust me when I saw you will fail this task but as long as you do your damndest to keep them off the streets, you'll be fine. First of the group is thing by the name of Victor Zsasz," as Cash said the name, he picked up the folder with his present hand and first gave it to Nirvana. She leafed through the folder quietly as Cash continued to speak, "Zsasz is an interesting case of schizophrenia and self mutilation. He is a recorded serial killer with many notches under his belt, and on his arms, and chest, and anywhere he can carve a tally mark into. He is particularly fond of women and children as his victim fodder, so I'd suggest you take that one, Crane," Cash finished as as Nirvana handed the file to the other.

"We'll see," she stated calmly, smiling slightly, she nodded towards the other folder, "and the other?"

"He goes by the name of Bane, why he is even here, I could not tell you, he belongs to Blackgate in my opinion, but they put him here anyway. He is strong, very strong. In fact, he will be frightening to you when you first see 'im, I guarantee it. He hasn't come down his high yet and he is very irritable at the moment. But we have him under lock and key. Dr. Nelson, I believe you'd be a better fit for them," Cash stated casually as he handed the file to her first again.

"And why do you think that, sir?" She asked coolly, keeping her eyes on the file as she opened it and looked through the information.

"I'll be honest and tell you I'm not entirely sure. But I think you'd be a good fit," Cash admitted with a nod. Nirvana nodded and looked through the file carefully.

"Well, I believe you may be right. I have experience working with people with addictive personalities and also histories of violence. But I don't believe I would get anywhere with Zsasz. I think Dr. Crane would be more suited. Though I suppose neither will hesitate to kill us either way so," Nirvana glanced at her coworker waiting for input.

"Yes I believe you're right, Dr. Nelson. Zsasz may have a hard time opening up to you because of your gender. He may be too... distracted," Jonathan agreed, a slight nod as he held Zsasz's folder in his hand, "I'll take Zsasz and we'll see."

Nirvana nodded as well and looked at Cash, "I'll believe we have come to a decision. Lead the way," she stated with a broad smile on her lips.

"Walk down this hallway go through the large metal doors at the end, pass code is your birthday. Crane you're on the left, Nelson on the right. Good luck."

Both said polite thank yous and began down the hallway. Their steps fell in time again, smooth strides. Confident auras. When entering their pass codes for the metal door as Cash instructed, Nirvana quietly stated, "You wanted Bane, didn't you?"

Crane stayed quiet for a long moment as he moved towards his door, Nirvana thought he chose to ignore her but before opening the door, two security guards quickly coming behind him to escorts him inside and act as protection, he turned to her and nodded, "I really did actually. But you are right, it will work better this way," Crane turned the doorknob gently, "I find his venom serum fascinating. Try to find out what's in it for me." And with that he entered the room, not so much as a pen and paper in hand and the door quietly shut behind him.

Nirvana stood at the door listening gently as she heard guards talking inside the room, talking about her new patient. Huge, they said. Godly, even. She turned the door knob to her own door and stepped inside, opening up her own future. She saw the large man sitting hunched over in his chair, his eyes suddenly focused on her upon entering. She smiled gently and moved towards the table and sat down quietly.

That room became her home for the next 2 years though her patient had escaped the next week. However, Arkham always seemed to go through the same cycle of inmates. One may escape but another would return. She worked with many; Edward Nigma, Pamela Isley, Harleen Quinzel (before and after her fall), and many others. Only big name patients came through hers and Crane's door in that hallway.

It was only when her most notorious patient came in that things turned to trouble. It was only when she met the clown that things turned a little too funny.

 **I promise from here it picks up. We get to Crane getting his promotion (yay!) and Nelson taking on his inmates and her capture. It is a few chapters long and a little wordy but it'll be quite the ride!**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is where things get interesting. So within the next chapters will be a few time jumps and journal entries will surface that belong to both Crane and Nelson. I will make these jumps pretty clear, I don't want to cause any confusions to happen.**

 **Remember my Joker is also Arkham-verse and Harley will be as well when she is introduced. I'll actually mention Harley quite a bit as she is something Arkham staff avoid in conversation and something like Crane and Nelson's responsibility, or so they feel.**

 **Hope you all enjoy!**

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Two years crept by slowly and Crane and Nelson seemed to age quickly as they continued to work there. Both doctors stood a head above the rest, always dressed in fine clothing and never was a hair out of place. As the months moved along, Dr. Crane became a stoic voice of reason while Dr. Nelson had loosened her tight grip and was much more relaxed and fluid in her day to day. They ate lunch often and shared their notes. They would often switch patients to see if the other doctor could see something the main doctor could not. They were often not seen one without the other doing their rounds together. While they would call each other friends, they had arguments often. Nurses and orderlies would walk by their offices and hear their screaming voices, calling each other a slew of insults. Many would giggle and snicker and say something like, they fight like an old married couple. However, they would both calm down enough soon enough and the yelling would stop.

As the first year rolled by, Nirvana was named head psychologist of maximum security while Jonathan Crane was named Head Psychologist of Arkham Asylum. They both ruled their own realms but became the ones that interviewed for new recruits. It was hard to pass their mind traps and tests but those who did were often placed on easy cases, keeping them on the upper floors and very rarely allowed them access to their patients in maximum security. The few that they did allow down below often didn't stay long. Few had the backbone for the violent outbursts and personal threats that one got everyday when they came into their designated rooms. They often asked to leave to the upper floors or quit all together. Or they became infatuated with their patient, gained a multiple personality, and broke out half the person trying to get their 'puddin' out. But Nelson and Crane avoided that conversation at all cost. Both of their jobs had been put into jeopardy because of a lovestruck girl and they had assured their superiors that this would never be an issue again.

The next year was when Crane had gained more on his plate than it seemed he could handle. Between his patients, renovations of maximum security, hiring new people, and the weight of his own life on his shoulders, while he would never admit it to anyone, Nelson could see he was becoming overwhelmed. So she insisted on taking over some of his patients, organizing a chart of some she would take and some he would keep and it came down to the wire when they had brought Joker into the mix. With Nelson taking Quinn on as a patient, she believed it only natural she take Joker as well. However after the last incident with Joker and a female psychologist, Crane thought it too dangerous for Nelson to take the Crown Prince of Crime onto her plate.

Through another shouting match, however, Crane gave in, handing over the files for Joker and Harley Quinn with the same stoic face he always wore. Nirvana did her best not to take the situation lately. She read case file after case file and kept her thoughts in order as she decided what to do with her new patient. Harleen was easy enough, let her ramble and she stays relatively at ease. Don't call her Harleen to her face because it causes her to become violent. Don't talk bad about her "puddin". Simple enough for anyone with two brains but the other would be different. She decided that isolation for a while would be her better option. Not from everyone but from sessions and doctors. While Crane disagreed with this idea he didn't see a need to fight it either. He would prefer Nirvana not getting any closer to the clown than necessary. While they remained neutral in most aspects, Crane would easily admit he had a respect for the woman. She was intelligent and extremely goal orientated, just like himself. Though their goals differed greatly from one another, he respected her need to do good. He just never shared that need of hers. When speaking about her to his superiors, he often called her naive, but went on to say that it was that naivety that caused her to wake up every morning and do her job well. He often spoke harsh with Nirvana, but his attention to her was soft in its own way. He did what he could to look after her, as a brother would a sister. And she looked after him, seeing him differently than others did. He was grateful to her for that.

Dr. Nelson had received Joker as her patient in July of that year, but didn't schedule their first meeting until October. She had decided six months without a meeting had been long enough. So she had met Joker on a quite night on October 30th, making it a point to avoid any sessions on Halloween. The walk down her familiar hallway seemed to have a chill in the air. Without Crane down there all the time, it had been a lonely little section of the asylum. She missed having a friend within the never ending threats that she faced everyday. Aaron Cash always seemed close by, but he had his concerns while Nirvana had hers. She wasn't scared of Killer Croc or Zsasz. They were broodish and easy to see through. She was afraid of the ones like Edward Nigma and Pamela Isley, competent but completely unpredictable individuals with minds that have a plan before you even enter a room. And Joker was one of the people who didn't even have to think of a plan for it to follow through with relative ease. While doctors gave him credit for almost flawless performances as far as his outlandish plans went, Nirvana saw his escapes were nothing but clever mistakes. They happened without much thought and what made him scary to her, was that these mistakes came to reap fruit when very little water was given to the blossom.

Her heels clicked and echoed with each step as she went along. The door, her door, came into view under its own florescent light. She kept her hands in her pockets as she reached the metal barrier between her and the Clown Prince. What would she say? She hadn't really a clue. She didn't want to think to hard about it because if she thought too much she felt like he'd be able to read her like a book. He had gotten to Quinzel so easily, was it really so out of reach he wouldn't get to her? She inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled slowly through her mouth, expelling all doubt from her mind and she opened the door smoothly and let herself inside.

Bright green eyes took in the man in the chair with a careful glance before pulling her patented crooked smile onto her pink lips and sitting down in front of the pale faced man with the green hair.

"Case file 325, Interview with Joker," she spoke into the air before looking directly at Joker and speaking to him directly, "I'm sorry it's been so long since we've gotten the chance to meet. My name is-"

"Your name is Nirvana Nelson. Do you really think I haven't heard of you before, you're the big man on campus down here! Or should I say big woman," the man snickered, a large grin spreading across his permanently smiling lips. "What have you got for me, Doc? It's been so long since I've been in a session. I was beginning to think you all forgot about little old me," his voice was almost like nails on a chalkboard, not high pitched but unsettling and slightly to jovial for a mass murderer. Nirvana however kept her face completely blank except for her small smile.

"I'm so sorry that I kept you waiting. It has been busy these last few months. I didn't mean to make you feel neglected."

"Well atleast I haven't been completely and totally abandoned. I had the crow to keep me company. He visited my cell every night. Kept me wide awake with his wild dreams," Joker ended this with a laugh again while Dr. Nelson rose a thin eyebrow in the question that she didn't have to answer before the Joker continued, "OOOH you know about the Scarecrow, don't you?! He is all over this place. Has been for yyeeeeeears. The darkest, most forgotten crazies have met the Scarecrow atleast once. He's a hoot!" Joker stated, slapping his knee as a disturbing toothy grin stayed on his face. The chains attached to his feet and hands rattled at the sudden movement and Dr. Nelson felt her guard raise suddenly, feeling the hair on the back of her neck raising suddenly.

"But who is the Scarecrow, Joker?" she asked in a steady voice. Joker had turned his head to study the hand and feet cuffs on him, jingling them around with an amused look face on his face before the question caused his face to contort in a sick glee and when he was about to open his mouth, the sound of glass breaking startled Dr. Nelson so that she was standing immediately and she turned to look at the mirror behind them, the mirror was a double-sided one where other people could watch the session. The glass was splintered in a large circle. It reminded Dr. Nelson of a spider web. She looked at Joker who was always looking at the glass with interest before he realized he was being stared at and he quickly shrugged, "I didn't do that one, Doc." Nirvana looked at the guard in the room with her who was also looking at the glass, a look of slight fear on his face.

"Take him back to his room. I'll see you on November 2nd," she directed at Joker who seemed to have the look of disappointment a child would wear.

"Oh but Doc, we were just getting started," he agreed but Nirvana was already out of the room and moving to the next room where the observation mirror was see through. She quickly threw open the door and was greeted by no one. The room was completely empty. Nirvana shut the door, waiting to see someone behind the metal but saw no one. It was only her. She ran her fingers over the glass gently as she watched the security guard pull up Joker, but Joker was looking at the glass and laughing. Nirvana narrowed her eyes and studied the glass quietly, running her nails down the glass as she looked at it with interest.

Maybe there was something to this Scarecrow rambling. Her heart beat had slowed down to a calm rhythm and she chuckled quietly before leaving the room. She would have to tell Dr. Crane about this of course. But maybe she would wait for a little while. She didn't want to cause him anymore stress for the time being.

Crystal eyes were narrowed as they watched a TV screen with intense concentration. The lean man stood in darkness of the tech room of the maximum security floor. His chest heaved as he had moved so quickly he hadn't even registered his own movements until he was tucked away out of the view of the eyes of the asylum. He watched as she watched her fingers ran down the glass that his fist had just impacted and felt oddly comforted as she left and he didn't immediately receive a phone call. He sighed and sat down in the desk chair and began to erase the footage from the room. His knuckles stung as he wasn't a physically strong man but he had punched the glass with the force of a man three times bigger than him. He worked through the pain in silence and quickly erased the footage with ease and quickly left the room.

He didn't need someone like Joker ruining his Halloween but he also didn't want Nirvana to be pulled into it all. He wanted her to steer clear of the chaos the Scarecrow would soon bring to Gotham. He walked a secret way through the halls and made his way up to his office, remaining silent as he walked. He thought of Nirvana and Joker and cursed himself for allowing her to take him as a patient.

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 **AND thats it for this chapter. Next is Halloween and all the fun of seeing Scarecrow getting his first taste of fear in large masses. A Halloween Gala at Wayne Manor. Dancing and screaming will make the city rattle to its bones and Nirvana will see the face of the Scarecrow!**


	4. Chapter 4

The big scare! Here is Scarecrow's coming out party and he's got quite a plan ready but what will he do when his favorite coworker is also at the party and she steals a glimpse of the man behind the hood. Halloween gets a just a little more frightening in Gotham this year. This will be spread between 2-3 chapters

There is going to be ALOT OF DESCRIPTION with this chapter and I would love it if you guys let me know if I sound repetitive so I can avoid it with future chapters. Also, I would like to apologize if there are spelling errors throughout the story. I type all these on my phone and sometimes predictive text can be a bit of a bitch. So please bare with me :3

Enjoy!

The day before had lingered on Nirvana's mind through the night and on to the next day. She still wasn't exactly sure what happened but in her mind it must have been Joker planned to scare her. It was Halloween after all, and from the past two years she knew that patient became very antsy on Halloween. Which is why she had decided to take the holiday off that year. It was her first real vacation since she was hired and she intended to spend it sitting at home and not worrying about Arkham for once. She had a party to attend that night and wanted to spend her day shopping and prepping, spending some time to herself.

She had woken up early and left her high rise apartment that was centered next to the Wayne building in the middle of Gotham. She hadn't intended on staying in the Narrows when she returned to Gotham. She knew she deserved better than to rot and decay. Then again, she believed no one really deserved the life most lived in Gotham City. She walked down the streets and stopped into a few shops along the way. Browsing didn't take long before she settled on a dress, shoes, and bag for the night's events ahead of her. Settling for a small lunch before going back to her apartment, she stopped at a cafe, setting her bags down at a table in the back, she headed to the front counter and stood behind a man who looked a little worse for wear. She watched gently as he struggled to find his wallet in his tailored suit, his eyes looked tired as he dug through his pockets.

"I must of left it in the car," he mumbled quietly as he sighed and looked at the cashier, "I'll be right back," he stated with a sheepish smile. Nirvana placed a gentle hand on his back and looked at the cashier.

"I've got it," she stated with a bright smile at the woman who only nodded and waited for Nirvana to order, "I'll add a black iced two, light sweetner. Also, one of the turkey clubs as well. Thank you," she stated as she pulled out her debit card and slide it through the machine quickly so she didn't get a battle with the young man she was paying for.

"You don't have to, my wallet is just in the car," the man behind her protested, embarrassed by her display of kindness. Nirvana turned to the man and smiled gently. He was attractive young man, with dark blonde hair with almost a reddish hue to it and a very strong jaw.

"Its no problem. Just pay it forward," she stated patiently, seeing the barista come back with their drinks, the man took his and held it in his hands.

"I appreciate it. If you ever need a lawyer, just give me a call," he stated, reaching into his front pocket of his suit and pulling out a plan white business card. She took it and flipped it over to read the name on the back.

"Mr. Harvey Dent. Hopefully your defense is better than your memory," she stated, tapping the business card on her chin with a smirk on her lips.

"It is, I promise you that," he laughed and made his way out of the door, "Thanks again, ma'am." And he was gone. Nirvana smiled to herself before looking up to see her sandwich being handed to her and she grabbed it from the woman and took it back to her seat. She ate her lunch quietly, absentmindedly looking through her phone.

Preparations took time and Jonathan felt like he was rushing. Everything was ready, it was all where he needed it and all how he wanted it, carefully mixed and ready but he had a hard time believing it was all ready. Or maybe that he was ready. The oxidization process maybe wasn't ready. None of it could be ready. He removed his gas mask and ran a hand over his face before rubbing his eyes before looking at everything. Glass bottles filled with orange gas sat on his table while a black flask sat next to, filled with a dark orange liquid. Next to that were a few needles. And that was his arsenal. A few bottles, a flask, and a couple needles. He breathed through his nose deeply and released it in a large sigh. He was going to get arrested for sure. He should not even do this. He huffed quietly, crossing his thin arms over his chest and looked at his arsenal with blank blue eyes.

Long black tresses were tied back in an elegant bun to the back of Nirvana's head. A few loose strands framed her delicate face while she did her own make up. Her face looked gentle and soft, her face painted to have a gentle glow to it while her eyes had a very subtle smokey eye makeup, but her eyes seemed to radiate it's green hue because of the contrast between browns and pinks to her intense green eye color. Her cheeks were dusted in light blush and her lips were left bare. When she looked in the mirror, she gave a silent nod of accomplishment. She then went to put on her dress just as the sun began to set over Gotham and Hallows Eve descended upon the city.

Her dress wasn't subtle but she also thought it was very beautiful. It was long and white, a change of pace for the usually darkly clad woman. The dress had a long neck but had a large peek-a-boo hole in the back that started at her shoulders and went down to just above her hips. It was sleeveless, which exposed her tattoos, which were usually hidden under her work clothes. She had two very small symbols on her left wrist, a black lily and a small cursive "A" next to the flower. While on her left arm, she had a large black and grey tattoo of a raven sitting on a branch. Behind the raven was a moon and a spooky looking tree. She had gotten the tattoo when she had first left Gotham because she had a passion for Edgar Allen Poe. As she finished putting on her heels, she got a phone call from her ride. She had decided to call a town car just in case she decided to drink a little bit that night. She left her apartment, throwing her small white bag over her shoulder and headed for the parking garage.

Getting into the Manor had been obviously easy since Jonathan had been invited to the Halloween Gala. His superiors were hoping that with their head psychologist was there that it would be better to gain more money for the renovations of the Maximum Security level of the asylum. Dr. Crane hadn't dressed much differently than he usually did. He wore the same black suit that he wore to work and had a white dress suit underneath that but instead of his usual blue tie, he wore a silk black one. His hair was pushed out of his face. Many looked on him as they passed, but he was used to this. He knew his looks were strange. Dramatic. He kept his eyes on the ground as he waited to see the man that he wanted to meet, a rich hospital executive with ties into the asylum through family or something of the sort. He held his brief case in his hand, his hand wrapped so tightly around the handle that his knuckles were white with the tension. He had somehow already snuck in the liquid into the punch. He didn't even know how he did it, it was just a blur in his mind of him tipping the flask over the bowl while he pretended to get himself a glass. He left with an empty flask and left the full glass by the bowl. His other items rested in his briefcase, wrapped in bubble wrap so nothing broke prematurely. He waited for the man he was going to meet impatiently, his foot tapping as well as his fingers against the handle of the briefcase. He wanted nothing more than to just start, he was anxious to begin. But he knew he would have to cross his t's and dot his i's that night or he'd be caught easily. He only saw her because he had lifted his head to cracking his neck but his eyes quickly caught the familiar face of his coworker. He at first could not decide if it was her or if it was a trick of his mind. But when she turned her head and saw him as well, he caught those green eyes and immediately he began to panic. Internally he screamed obscenities and cursed her idiocy. How could she do this? Was she an idiot?! What sane person goes out in Gotham on Halloween Night?! But his face stayed blank as she left the side of someone rich whoever and made her way to Jonathan's side, a slight smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth as she pulled next to him, standing side by side and looking at the party together.

"I would have never thought I would see you at a Wayne party, Dr. Crane. You must be working," she stated with her own smile pulling on her lips. He looked down at her and gave a single nod of his head before looking at out at the crowd that was beginning to fill the main hall.

"You look very nice," he commented politely, keeping his eyes away from her as he said it however. He had learned his lesson long ago about talking to beautiful women. He wouldn't be played like that again, he wouldn't allow it.

"Thank you, Jonathan. Would you like some punch?" She asked as she motioned over to the table with sweets and a large bowl of dark red punch.

"Aren't I supposed to ask you that?" He teased before Nirvana rolled her eyes and snorted a retort of 'Fight the patriarchy' before Jonathan quickly added, "besides I saw somebody spike it with something and when I went over there it smelled disgusting," he explained, his heart beating fast in his chest as lied to her.

"Of course," she sighed with a roll of her eyes before looking around and seeing someone walk by, dressed as a waiter with a tray of champagne. She quickly grabbed two glasses from the tray and had one to Jonathan, who held it but made no move to take a drink. Nirvana sipped hers, taking a generous gulp of the sparkling drink before looking back at the crowd, "Who are you supposed to be coaxing tonight?"

"His name is Thomas Elliot. He was good friends with the Wayne family and became a head in Wayne's wing in the hospital. I knew him when he was young so I'm sure everything will go fine. I have a feeling he won't show though. He doesn't like the Waynes anymore, some childish fight," he explained with a wave of his hand.

"When did you meet him?"

"When he was thirteen he was admitted for beating a peer half to death. Stress broke his mind. I was interning at Arkham and I was able to convince his idiot doctor to sign to release him. I won't say that I didn't have my motives for working for his release..." Crane explained, taking a small sip of his champagne then.

"I'm guessing it was money," Nirvana stated, no judgement was in her voice as she stated this, but she had turned her head to look at Crane then.

"Yes. I was running out of money from my scholarship for classes too soon. She offered to pay for whatever years I had left to have her son come back home," he explained coolly, no emotion in his voice as he kept his eyes from her, looking straight ahead of him.

"And you were able to do it because you are good at playing the weak minded against their own thoughts," Nirvana finished for him, again, her voice remained level. Crane gave another single nod, but stayed silent this time. She turned her head so she looked in the same direction as him. "Its interesting when I get to learn more about you, I have such a small frame for you so when I get more to expand it, it's like I'm meeting you for the first time again."

It was Crane's turn to look at her, crystal eyes taking her in, "And what do you think you know about me, Nelson?" His voice was steady but Nirvana could sense an anger bubbling in him and she answered him calmly.

"Dr. Crane, you forget what I was trained to do. I had you almost figured when I first met you. Your walls are impressive, of course. But I know why you act the way you do, your past, in vague details, and I can predict how you will react to things. I spent a lot of money learning things, don't take my abilities lightly," she explained with ease though there was a firmness behind her voice. Taking another drink of her champagne she then turned her gaze to look him directly in his eyes, though there was a smirk on her lips once again. Crane kept his eyes upon her for a moment before he turning his head away from her again and this time it was his turn to take a large drink from his own glass. Nirvana took in the momentary thoughtful look on his face before it turned back to its blank empty face, unable to be read but Nirvana knew better.

"You want me to tell you what I know," she explained, turning her eyes away from him again but taking a small step forward. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes out of her purse and nodded towards a door to outside. Her face turned to catch his eyes, a cocked eyebrow and glint in her eyes. "I'll tell you everything."

Crane felt his grip on his briefcase tighten as a reminder of he wanted to do that night. His greatest experiment yet. But felt his feet move to follow Nirvana through the dance floor to the smoking area of the Gala. He did want to know. He had to know what she really knew. About him. About his mannerisms. Did she know something she shouldn't? And if she did, what could he do?

What would he do?

I know, I know, it was so long I'm sorry! Thank you to whoever made it to this point! I had a few easter eggs in this chapter, I hope you enjoyed them!

Next chapter, the Gala continues and Crane begins his plan! But not until he is told all about himself. Can he handle hearing the truth? And what will he do when he does hear it?

Find out in the next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Here we go! This will be the beginning of the end for Nirvana and Jonathan as we know it! Things start to get juicy here and now!**

 **I just want to thank you loyal readers out there! I see some of you coming back here checking for updates and I also see you people who have favorite and followed my story AND I got my first comment! Whoa! I love knowing there are people out there enjoying what I'm writing and I'm so grateful! I'm sorry for the delay in this chapter. Thank you again those of you that came back!**

...

Nirvana made it out the door with a reluctant Jonathan in tow. It was just a balcony, with a beautiful view of Gotham in the background. Nirvana took in the starless sky as the light of the city were to bright for anything beyond it to be seen. She turned back as Jonathan stood next to her, placing his briefcase down gently before Nirvana offered him a cigarette as she pulled two out of the pack in her hand. He took it and placed it in his mouth while she put the pack back in her purse before lighting her own cigarette. She placed the still burning lighter under his cigarette to light his as well. When it was lit, she closed the zippo style lighter and placed it back into her purse. Crane didn't smoke often, but he enjoyed when he did with Nirvana. She became a little more human-like and less of the untouchable being she portrayed. They both inhaled deeply and exhaled, smoke lingering around both of them.

"Where do I begin when it comes to Jonathan Crane? I suppose I'll start at the beginning," she stated coolly as she leaned up against the balcony wall. Jonathan took a small step closer to her so Nirvana wouldn't have to say her findings too loudly. She held her cigarette to her lips before beginning, inhaling one more time and as she began to speak, the smoke seemed to drip from her lips, "You weren't raised in Gotham. Most of your growing years were spent somewhere in the midwest. Maybe Nebraska? Or North Dakota. I know this because of the way you carry yourself and sometimes when you speak there is a very slight accent. Very slight though. And you weren't raised by your immediate parents. It was maybe an aunt or grandmother? But it was definitely a woman. You're actual parents aren't dead though. Well, they may be now, but not when they gave you away."

Jonathan kept himself steady as she spelled out his life, his eyes remaining on the top of her head as he listened. She was right so far but these were basics that anyone can find on the Internet if they looked hard enough. He stayed silent so Nirvana boldly continued, "This female relative was... cruel, for lack of a more accurate word. Religious zealot, I'm guessing. That I know because of your absolute lack of faith. She abused you, mentally and emotionally and physically. Said you were dirty and reeked of sin. The whole nine, I'm sure. But there is something else that differs from your run of the mill grannies. Something that hit a deeper part of you. I don't know what it is though," she explained before continuing, "You don't like women. Not women like me, people you don't even see as women anymore but as something else, you don't like talking to any women out of turn. They make you nervous. They make you angry. They bring up a memory you'd rather never talk about, it probably is someone who hurt you when you were younger, maybe your grandmother but again, I don't know," she paused, talking a slow drag from her cigarette as she felt Crane back down from his angry slowly.

"A classmate embarrassed me in front of a lot of people I was in high school with. I..." he began to explain but quickly shut down again, avoiding the entire conversation of what happened to him at that Homecoming party. "Needless to say, I've always been very weary of women because of that," he finished cooly, icy tones entering his voice.

"And thats also because you think you're ugly. You were awkward during puberty, your body growing faster than your weight could catch up with. Your skin was probably not great because your grandmother never took time to take care of you. This awkward phase mixed with the reclusive nature you get from children who experience abuse made it hard to make friends because, like it usually happened in small towns, looks were everything and intelligent people were nothing and they took you for granted. Teased you. Bullied you. So you think your appearance is still based on that one moment of your life where people stared at you because you were weird," she paused from this point again taking a large breath and turning her gaze to look directly at Jonathon, a kind but truthful glaze in her eyes, "Which isn't true. You grew up into a very beautiful man, Dr. Crane. People don't stare you because you're ugly. People stare at you because you're... stunning. Orderlies fawn after you, patients become obsessed, trust me," she added before her smirk formed on her lips, "I see it all the time. Between your height, your skin, the way you move, the way you hold yourself, your hair and how it contrasts with those absolutely gorgeous eyes, people can be shocked seeing you for the first time," she finished and waited for a response but she received none, "But it's only because there aren't many people in the world you look like you do."

Jonathan felt his stomach tighten as she explained this. He felt uncomfortable when he was complimented and he hadn't felt so off put in his entire life when it came to his looks. She was just saying that to be nice, no one believed that of him. No one truly felt that way. And as if reading him, Nirvana piped in again, "But I know you won't ever believe anyone who tells you that because the damage has been done. I understand, I feel it too," she added, her tone level but she turned her eyes away from him then. Jonathon kept his eyes down though he spoke this time.

"How anyone could say anything bad about your appearance is beyond me," he explained, a compliment but more of a factual statement coming from Jonathan. Nirvana smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Jonathon. But I was also an outcast in school. I was more concerned with getting out. With making the grade, being the best. And I didn't have nice clothes or cute hairstyles. I wore black all the time, and my eyes were always dark because I never got any sleep because I worked through high school because me and my dad were so poor, the extra income was needed, not wanted. Girls are cruel and so are boys. I've been tricked and made a fool of. I've been called ugly and fat and any other pathetic insult those half wits came up with-"

"Yet you want to help them. Why? They never did anything for you," Crane interjected, his comment harsh but Nirvana had heard it from him before. Nirvana continued;

"They were just kids and so was I, Jon. Now they are adults with kids of their own. They are just like my dad, struggling to work so hard for so little. I want to help them now. I wanted them to all rot in hell when I was young," she stated with a chuckle as she finished off her champagne and set the glass down and inhaled her cigarette, "All those things make us who we are. Whether they let us fall or hold us up depends on what we make of it."

Jonathon let that thought linger in his mind as he held his briefcase tight in his hand before Nirvana flicked her cigarette and took a few steps towards the door, "That's the end of this session, Dr. Crane. We can set up an appointment for later," she smirked at him before stepping inside and disappearing out of sight. Jonathon stood in the silence, his cigarette burned without him smoking more than 2 drags on it and just turned to ash as he held it in his free hand. He let everything settle in his mind before his own dry blank expression crossed his face. She had known all of it just by taking in the way he walked and talked. The way his presence was and she knew more but wasn't telling him. How much did she really know of him? Or did she ditch the conversation so suddenly because she knew nothing else? His mind wondered on the thought as he looked out on to Gotham. He had do this. He knew it now. To rid Gotham of the scum he mirrored and detested. He looked into the Gala and saw people drinking the punch but no effect seemed to be accuring. He knew it was a long shot to have tried the liquid version of his serum. But he thought that would be a less obvious way to drug his lab rats that night. He sighed and turned, placing his briefcase on the banister of the balcony. He opened it and began unwrapping each glass bottle inside, throwing the bubble wrap over the side of the banister carelessly. He looked down at the bottles once they were clear of their bubble wrap and ran his thin pale fingers over each one before he began taking off his suit coat and folded it carefully and draped it over the banister. He pulled the bottles out of the briefcase one by one and placed them on the banister as well but made sure his body hid them from prying eyes. He placed his jacket in the briefcase with gentle hands before pulling out something made of burlap and mesh. He looked at the material, running his finger tips over the fabric before feeling a rush of courage hit him. He pulled the mask over his face, the image of the Scarecrow coming into view, the mask looked frightening bare, with nothing but black eyes and a sewn on smile and nothing else. Inside he had upgraded it, the mouth and nose area were now protected from his own toxin. He took a bottle in between each finger keeping a strong grip on them as not to accidentally drop one.

He moved to the door of the gala, his breath shaking but as he walked through, he continued with his false courage and busted in with a loud bang. He stretched his arm forward and long legs carried him into the room with a long stride. People stared at him then, but with confusion as some laughed, thinking it was a Halloween prank that wasn't well executed. Atleast that was until he dropped the first glass bottle and it broke open, the gas quickly escaping and creating a circle around him. The laughter stopped quickly as sudden gasps happened and with that sharp intact of air, those around him suddenly began coughing and as their eyes opened, he knew it worked. They became blank and then suddenly filled with fear. Screams exploded and panic breathing filled the Scarecrow's ears and his it was almost like a weight was lifted off his chest. Like something blossomed under his skin and he chuckled loudly as continued his parade through the hall, "Oh Gotham. Let us really see what tricks this Halloween will bring!" His voice boomed over the music and the screams. He began throwing bottles in all directions them exploding in balls of orange gas and engulfing the people in the area it hit. Some people ran out the front doors but quickly halted when the gas took their hold.

Nirvana had been speaking with a socialite, before her eyes turned to the man in the mask as the sound of breaking glass caught her attention. She watched as people suddenly began screaming and heard the voice echoing throughout the hall and her eyes focused carefully on the man. "Jonathan?" She whispered before a bottle was thrown in her direction and she was covered in the orange gas. She coughed and felt the noxious fumes infect her lungs. Then suddenly everything went black. Her eyes were open but nothing darkness and silence consumed her. Her breathing became fast as she searched around for others. She didn't know what was happening, why couldn't she see, why couldn't she hear? Suddenly an extremely loud cracking of thunder echoed in the space she was in and she saw a flash of lightning in the distance. She backed away, only hitting something blindly as she was casted into darkness again. She heard unhinged laughter echo through the area before another crack of lightning and thunder following it, deafening loud and causing tears to fill her eyes. Why was she outside in this weather? Nothing unnerved her more than thunder and lightning. She feared it's power. It's sound. The laughter continued throughout the darkness as it became silent once again and then it happened again. It was so loud that it rattled her chest. She felt the twinge of electricity hit her skin. The tears flowed down her cheeks but she made no sound. She wanted no more sound. As she thought it, it happened again and again and again. Her chest became tight and she felt it hard to breath. Her lungs swelled and made it hard to get a breath in or out. She was having an asthma attack. She kneeled to the floor and scrambled for her purse but as she searched the floor of the space she was in, she felt her hand get trampled several times and pain shot through her entire arm. She still made no sound despite the pain in her fingers she continued to search desperately, her eyes blurring as her tears kept falling and she gave a shuttered sob as she tried to keep her focus but felt it impossible to keep her mind on the purse as her hand was screaming in pain the the thunder continuing in its loud rage. She gave up and curled up into herself, pulling her knees to her chest and laid her head down, crying in full force now. She was scared. She had never felt so much terror in her life. The laughter faded now and was only a distant humming. Her ears rang in pain as the thunder continued and somehow with her eyes closed she could still see the lightning. The blackness consumed everything else. She kept her face buried in her arms as she even heard a familiar face coming into the darkness but her labored breathing of an asthma attack kept her from registering who it was. She only cried out more as she tried to get herself together ask for help, she needed her inhaler. But her voice only come out in sobs as she tried her hardest to explain. To just calm down and explain what she needed but she couldn't get more than a few syllables out before she began sobbing again and her breathing only became worse and worse. She just needed her inhaler. She needed her inhaler.

She needed her inhaler, Jonathan felt himself suddenly be washed over in guilt and shame as he looked around for her purse with fast eyes and quickly found it by her side, and he dug through it with quick hands to find the blue and white inhaler inside it and grabbed her hand but she yelped out in pain. Jonathon looked at her hand and saw it was bruised and swollen, red and bleeding. He cursed himself and quickly grabbed her chin and forced open her mouth and squeezed the inhaler and heard the quiet hiss of the medicine releasing. He did it two more times and waited to see if she needed more.

Nirvana tasted the bitter taste of her inhaler in her mouth but quickly understood and the next two times she breathed in as deeply as she could before the inhaler was taken from her again. It was still so dark and the thunder boomed in her ears and she grasped out for the person helping her. Her hands only felt the mask and she went to touch it more her arm protested in pain. She was still crying but no sound escaped her now. She pulled her hands away and focused on her breathing in desperation to regain some of her composure. She felt her body being lifted, she kicked and punched at the force but to no avail. In her ear she heard a whisper.

"What do you see, Nirvana?"

She wanted to answer but only more tears came running down her face and she curled up into the force holding her.

Jonathon carried her out of the Gala, he felt he should be struggling to carry her, but the adrenaline must have been helping him. It worked. Everything worked. To his amazement and suprise, it really fucking worked. He didn't care about everyone else, but as Nirvana cried in his arms, he picked up the pace to the back door he had come in through. Why couldn't have she been in the bathroom or have seen it coming? Why did she have to be in the middle of it? He kicked open the back door and saw his vehicle with people around it. Immediately felt fear of being caught but he then saw them clawing their eyes and their own tears falling down their faces. More screams. He chuckled and pushed past them. He opened his back car door, struggling on holding the shivering woman as he did but he got the door open and leaned down to gently lay her on the back seat of the vehicle. She turned away from the presence of the other, curling into the leather though the smell of rain was now filling her senses.

Was this the calm after the storm? Would the darkness finally give way to clouds? Could she finally awake from this into the world that existed? Thunder still rolled in her mind but it seemed like it was leaving. Maybe, just maybe she could awake. She felt the slam of something as it rattled the place she laid and then felt the slam again. Lightning flashed but it was far from her minds eye. Just a line going across a wide open sky.

"Jonathon," she whispered in a hushed voice, causing blue eyes to look at her form in the review mirror, "Why did you do this to me?" She finished in a tired sound, but sadness laced her words. Jonathon's eyes widened as he looked at her back. His breathing hitched in his throat. Nirvana kept her eyes closed as she tried to focus on keeping the thunder away from her while Jonathon turned his eyes away from the woman in the back seat as he focused on keeping his hands steady on the wheel.

She knew. But, he had worked so hard. And she knew.

...

 **Uh oh! What will Jonathon do?! We'll find out :3**


	6. Chapter 6

Here we go! Not too much of an intro this time so let's get started!

...

Jonathon quickly started the car and began to drive. His eyes would look at the road and then stray to his passenger in the back and then back on to the road. What was he going to do? He couldn't just drop her off and pretend none of it happened. It would be on the news, he knew that for sure. And he wouldn't... he wouldn't kill her. Not Nirvana. He couldn't. He chewed on his lip in a nervous habit. He stopped at a stop light and looked into the distance. He saw the high rises coming into view as they approached the city limits. He looked back at Nirvana again. Her breathing seemed to be regulated. Her body was still curled up into itself but as he took more notice, he saw that she was sleeping. It didn't surprise him, he noticed many people sought the comfort of their dreams to hide from the nightmares he caused. He hated himself for putting her through this, he should have cancelled everything when he knew she was there.

But something in his chest... told him he did the right thing. He needed this one shot and despite his one slip up, it went well. Then something even deeper played on his mind... what had she seen? They had never talked much about their own fears. Did they talk about fear itself? Of course, it was his passion, she knew that. But about their personal fears? No. Nirvana had made it a point to keep that from him. And he had let it go. But now...

His eyes drifted back to the sleeping woman again. His curiosity was peaked. He had to know now. He pulled the car over in a quick jerk and sat in the front seat for a quiet moment. Thinking. He didn't know where he was even going to drive to. He got out of the vehicle and quickly opened the back seat and looked at Nirvana. Her breathing was soft, but her face told a different story. Her eyes darted this way and that behind her lids and her eyebrows were knitted together in frustration. She was dreaming with the fear gas still having its effect. He gently took the bobby pins and clips out of her hair, letting his fingers run over the dark black tresses as he released them until her long hair flowed over the leather seat.

"What do you see, Nirvana?" He spoke, his voice so gentle and soothing, Nirvana could almost swim in it. She opened her bright green eyes and still saw nothing, just darkness, thunder still played in her ears, but the sound of rain was louder now. She wasn't sure, but she was coming down from the high. She almost swore she felt the rain hitting her flesh, cool and delicate droplets seemed to wash away everything. The voice came again, still soft and sweet, as she felt a hand run over her cheek, a thumb wiping away whatever stains of tears still were left there.

"Tell me what you saw. I can make it go away, Dr. Nelson. But I have to know what you saw."

The thunder seemed to rile up as she felt anger come from her. Her eyes closed again and she spoke bluntly.

"Burn in hell," she recanted, her voice ragged, her throat sore from crying before. Anger seemed to fill the aura around them and Nirvana felt her chin being grabbed in a rough way and her head being jerked so that her face was facing towards the voice but when Nirvana opened her eyes again, all she saw was rain. Water. So much water and so much rain that she was suddenly scared to drown in it. But in the rain two bright blue eyes shone out in the darkness and a voice boomed out like the thunder she had been so scared of before.

"TELL ME WHAT YOU SAW."

Nirvana looked at him with scared eyes but they were unfocused. They weren't really seeing him but whatever her mind made her see. Jonathon scoffed and let go of her chin, where she dropped her head and curled back into herself, new tears falling.

"You're so weak, Nirvana. You can't handle a little bit of fear without breaking," he said, more to himself than to her. He slammed the back door shut and got back inside the front driver seat and started the car. He looked back to see Nirvana shaking as if she were cold. He turned his gaze away from her for the last time as he drove away from where he had parked and headed down a familiar path.

He knew where he'd take her. He knew exactly where he would take her.

...

Nirvana woke with a start. She didn't remember falling back asleep. But she was laying in a bed. It wasn't comfortable. And it wasn't soft like her own. She sat up with her eyes wide open and still saw nothing but darkness. But it wasn't complete darkness, a peak of light was coming in. She looked around the room and saw that it was familiar in a way. She stared at everything for a long time till her eyes settled to a figure that was sitting on the floor. She forced her eyes to focus and saw him. His long legs were stretched out on the tile floor and he was looking directly at her though in his hands there was something brown. He looked disheveled, like he had been up all night. She breathed in slowly, trying to get her mind together. She remembered the party. The screaming. The darkness. She remembered the man in the mask and the orange gas. She scooted away from him, her back firmly pressed against the wall, reminding her she could only go so far. He sighed at her and shook his head.

"Nirvana I'm not going to hurt you," he stated calmly, placing his own head to rest against the wall behind him. "I just... need to keep you here. I can't have you running around telling everyone what you saw," he explained coolly.

"Where am I, Jonathon?" She stated firmly, her voice still gruff from the night before. She looked down at herself for the first time then. She wasn't in her dress anymore but in a t shirt and a pair of her own yoga pants. Her arm was wrapped in gauze. She looked back at him, "Did you change me? Where did you get these clothes from?"

"Don't flatter yourself, I didn't do anything, but you couldn't stay in that dress, it was filthy," Jonathon explained with a wave of his hand. "I grabbed some clothes from you apartment before I brought you here. I didn't want you to be stuck in the hospital clothes. You deserve better than that," he stated with a sad expression on his face. He turned his eyes down to the Scarecrow mask in his hands.

"I want explain," he began but Nirvana cut him off.

"Fuck off, Crane. Get me out of here," she spat viciously, putting weight on her arm as she leaned forward then immediately sitting back, cursing quietly, "I think my hand is broken, Jon. Someone has to set it properly," she stated quietly after that. Jonathon shook his head.

"I checked it myself. Just a sprain. No big deal," he stated quietly, keeping his eyes on the mask as he began, "Ever since I was little, I've always been afraid. My grandmother but me through hell and the damned city..." he shook his head angrily, "Until I finally was able to get them back. I was finally able to make them pay. Fear is such a beautiful thing, Nirvana. Such a beautiful thing. It is what makes this world turn and makes people get up in the morning. And you don't truly know someone till you see them afraid. It turns the docile violent and the strong into weaklings," he stated with a annoyed sigh, he ran his thumbs over the mask with a tender touch. Nirvana looked at the man with suspicious eyes, keeping her distance before his eyes shot up to look at Nirvana.

"Like yesterday, I saw the all powerful Dr. Nelson in all her class and grace fall in the face of adversary. What you saw made you so frail and weak yet," he held a finger as if to pause himself, "But God forbid you tell me what you fear, you had enough balls to keep it to yourself, you fucking bitch," he bit his lip to keep from continuing, a crazy smirk on his face. "I want to know what you fear and I can't let you run around telling the whole world who I am. So I think, I'll just keep you here," he stood from the ground slowly, before he rushed her on the bed, cornering her against the wall she already pressed up against. Kept her eyes focused on his, unflinching at the sudden movement, making him smile wildly and shake his head.

"So tough, aren't you, Nelson. You think just because you've seen bad that you can't see worse? I'll show you worse," he pushed away from the wall and moved towards the door.

"I'll scream. Someone will hear me, someone will let me out," she stated coolly, keeping her place against the wall, her heart betraying her frozen facade.

"Silly girl. No one will hear you. You think you know this asylum, but you haven't seen the closed wings. No one will come down this hallway. No one will hear you. Nobody has heard the others," he stated, giving a raise of his eyebrow.

"You can't do this, Crane. This is fucking crazy. You aren't going to get away with it. Just let me out and I'll get you a nice cell in maximum security," Nirvana stated boldly, keeping her eyes on him as he moved towards the door.

"Nelson, I've been getting away with it since I was a freshman in college, interning here. Testing new serums and formulas. Some of died. Let's hope you're tougher than them," he opened the door and quickly exited the room, looking at her through the tiny window in the door before chuckling before shutting the door of the window with a quiet snap. Nirvana quickly moved from the bed, her feet sore but she hadn't moved so fast in her life.

"Help me! Help me, he's crazy, please help me!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She heard the chuckling continued on the other side of the door.

"We'll discuss your treatment tomorrow morning. I'll bring dinner later," she heard his voice come through the door. She banged the door with her good hand and kicked it as hard as she could without harming her bare feet. She continued screaming for what felt like hours. The room was pitch black and her eyes strained to see something in the darkness. Her breathing was ragged when she had finally finished screaming. She had fallen to the floor, crying quietly, keeping her eyes shut, her head resting again the door. She sniffled as she stayed in this position for a while. Her hand hurt, her throat hurt, her eyes hurt, and mostly her head hurt. Her stomach grumbled painfully but she didn't move. She just cried.

What was she going to do? She couldn't be stuck in this cage. What if Crane was caught and he didn't tell anyone she was there. What if he just let her die? She felt so weak and decided take her body to bed. She stood and moved to the lumpy bed and laid down in the darkness. She continued crying quietly, curling up into herself, wrapping her arms around herself despite the pain burning through her hand. Hopefully when dinner came, so would a blanket. Gotham autumns were a cold place to be. With no power or heat running through the abandoned building, she wouldn't be surprised if she just never woke up. She wasn't even sure she wanted to wake up at this point.

She slept restlessly till she heard the latch at the bottom of the door open and slide under the door. Probably her dinner, but she couldn't find the strength to even move. So she didn't. She would just lay there until Crane the next morning. If he even come back at all.

...

I'm gonna push out these chapters as fast as I can while the brain juices are flowing.

What will Nirvana's treatment be? What will Crane do when he starts seeing Nirvana get her strength back? When and what will the first experiment be? Stay tuned!


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter is a little shorter than others, but I wanted to get a chance on showing the personalitis together. Next chapter we get to the fun fear gas parts and soon the journals will begin!**

...

Crane sat in his office with his feet thrown up onto his desk. In front of him was his laptop that he made sure to face away from the door. His eyes were focused on the laptop as he watched the live stream of the room Nirvana was in. She was just laying in bed. She hadn't even touched the food he had brought her. Could she really have been sleeping that whole time? Or did she already give up? He scoffed at the second thought. He knew her better than that. She wouldn't give up that easily. Atleast not yet. Everyone had gone home for the night and he should be home as well, when he thought about it. He hadn't slept the night before and he felt his lids get heavy. But he didn't want to leave her on the first night. He couldn't even fathom that thought. He kept his eyes on the screen despite his need for sleep. He watched her curl tighter into herself, even dipping her head into her chest. She hadn't eaten dinner either. It still sat on the floor. It had been soup, it was probably freezing by then. Then his mind suddenly had a revelation. She was probably freezing.

He sighed audibly. She would be atleast be digesting the food if she had just eaten and her metabolism would keep her slightly. He stretched in his chair and stood from it. He grabbed his suit jacket and threw it over his shoulder. He moved from his office and back towards her new home.

...

She hadn't been so cold before. Her body was prickled with goosebumps as she stay cuddled into herself. How could that idiot not think of putting a blanket in the room? She cursed in the darkness as she curled tighter into herself. Her head whirled with thoughts of what he had said before. People had died under his care. Did they die in this room? Did their spirits haunt the room she slept in? She felt the aura drop suddenly as she thought of it. She didn't move however, just laid in the exact same spot. It was then that she heard the footsteps coming down the hallway. She opened one eye as she listened to the steps come closer. She closed her eye as the door opened and felt the rush of air as her confinement was opened. She remained perfectly still as she felt the presence grow closer to her and was surprised when something was placed over she shoulder. She felt sudden warmth wash over her as the cloth was laid over her gently. She felt her body suddenly relaxed and she let out an audible sigh. A hand was placed on her shoulder and she immediately tensed up again.

"When you feel like it, I brought some more food. It's soup and bread, eat it before it gets cold. It will help," he spoke gently, as if not to disturb her, "I'm sorry I forgot to put a blanket in her, I'll bring something better tomorrow," he added and she could tell that he did actually feel bad about it. She scooted away from the hand and moved so that she was closer to the wall. She didn't want admission to his own stupidity unless it was him letting her go. He sighed loudly, annoyed. But he left afterwards. She heard the door shut quietly and heard the foot steps going back down the hallway. She shrugged the "blanket" off her shoulders and moved towards the smell of food. The soup had such a warm aroma, she wished she would have been at home to enjoy it. When she found the new tray, she was about to lift it towards the bed but as her hands touched the edges, she didn't want to drop it by accident. She removed her hands from it and turned on her hill and went towards what she thought was the door. After running her hands along the walls for 5 minutes, she finally felt the indent that signalled she had finally found it. She reached towards the top, feeling the light wood that covered the eye door. She tried to see if she could slid it open, but the wood wouldn't budge. It must have had a latch on it. She didn't have the strength to just punch it off, and with fear of ruining her good hand, she decided against the idea anyway. She placed her hand against the wood and pushed a few times before she gave one final push with all her weight behind it. She sighed in relief when the wood broke against her hand, so she did it once more and the entire plank broke in half. Moonlight shone into the room. It wasn't much light but it was some. She turned to take in her room this time seeing that it wasn't as small as she thought. There was a metal sink and toilet in the corner and her bed was on the opposite side. The entire room was white concrete, including the floors. She looked along the roof and noticed a small black camera in each corner. She smirked, Crane had seen. She quickly held up her middle finger, a smirk still on her face but didn't say anything before moving to her tray and bringing it to her bed and ate like she hadn't seen food in weeks.

...

Crane watched as he was flipped the bird, sipping coffee from a foam cup. He smirked quietly and shook his head before moving to his list of things to bring the next day, and wrote down new wood for the door.

"Enjoy it while you can," he stated to her though also himself.

...

After she finished eating, she moved to the door and slid the tray under the door for pick up the next day. She looked around the room once again, a new found strength in her body, as her food digested into her sympton. She looked up at the cameras and spoke clearly.

"Can you hear me, Crane?" She asked looking at the camera closest to the door. Crane looked at the laptop as a voice came out of it and he pulled out his headphones and plugged them in. He grabbed the mic built into the headphones and spoke,

"Yes I can hear you."

His voice echoed throughout the room and Nirvana looked at the camera, "So can I ask when you'll let me out of here? Am I going to die here or will you let me go at some point?"

"It depends. If I let you out, will you tell anyone about what you saw?"

"You mean that you kidnapped me and forced me into seclusion or just what you did at the gala?"

"Both, I suppose," he answered mid chuckle.

"The answer to both is yes. But I still think you should let me out. We're friends, aren't we?"

"I don't know, are we?"

"Well I liked to think so till you know," she motioned to the room in a grandeur gesture before looking back at the camera.

"Its only a safety precaution, Nelson."

"Bull shit, Crane. This is a punishment for not letting you in. If I told you what I saw, can I atleast get showers and some sort of extra something, like a hair brush and shoes," she asked coolly, crossing her arms over chest as she motioned down to her bare feet.

"You won't tell me what you saw."

"If you made it worth the cost, I may."

"Oh I can make it worth it," Crane stated with another chuckle.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Okay forget I mentioned it. Will you just let me die in here, Jon?"

"Of course not," he stated coolly.

She shook her head and moved away from the camera. Crane felt a chance slip from his grasp and he quickly continued, "Tell me what you saw, and I'll get a lamp for your room, hair brush, and shoes. Maybe showers but that will be easier said than done."

"You can wait," she stated harshly, moving around the room, inspecting everything with her hands clasped behind her back. She looked at the mattress and stayed quiet as she saw clean sheets. Crane breathed in through his nose in anger before retorting.

"Enjoy that light while you can, Nelson. I'll be sure to fix it tomorrow."

"Oooooh I'm shaking," Nirvana retorted, almost in a mocking tone though in her chest she felt scared of being left in the dark again, "What's the point of keeping it dark, Jon?"

"Because you don't know what's in it," He explained, calming down once again. She nodded her head, and looked back up at the camera.

"Can you also bring a hair clip for me?"

"I have your clips in my office, I'll give them to you in the morning. Good night, Nirvan-"

"You're not going to sleep. You'll be watching these cameras all night, won't you Crane?"

He stayed silent for a moment, watching her through the screens as she turned to face the camera nearest the door again. She rose an eyebrow and smirked once again, his eyes roaming her face for something. But she kept it blank and she did this well. He sat back in his chair, remaining silent. He stared at her eyes as she stared at the camera. Waiting for something else. Her face held still as she spoke again.

"What... what will the treatment be?" She worded carefully, keeping her face clear of emotion. Crane remained silent still, and she shifted on one foot to the other. He smirked quietly, placing a thin finger over his lips as if to keep himself from reacting.

"Crane?"

Another silent few moments before she looked away from the cameras, cursing to herself under her breath as she kept wondering the room. Crane remained silent but kept his headphones in, muting his microphone just in case. He watched as she wondered her small room, picking up her mattress and putting it back down. Moving over to her sink and toliet, inspecting every small nook and crannie in the room. She was trying to memorize where everything was before he took the light away again. It wasn't too long before she laid back down in bed. Crane watched as she pulled his suit jacket back up to cover her.

Nirvana held the jacket in her hand. She wanted to throw it to the floor and just be cold while she slept, but she knew better. Wrapped the jacket around her shoulders and curled up her body so that the only thing left outside of the jacket were a few toes. She relaxed back into its warmth, taking note of the smell this time. It was a musky scent but it also had its clean undertones to it. It reminded her of pine needles and wood. She figured it was Crane's cologne, though she had never been close enough to him to pick up on such a smell. She breathed in deeply, finding the scent both revolting and calming. Revolting because it reminded her of him, but also calming, because she had considered Jonathon a friend. And it did remind her of him and of a moment she felt at ease with him when they talked.

Crane watched as she nestled into his jacket and was happy to see her get comfortable inside it's fabric. He saw her eyes close finally and could sense sleep was creeping upon her. He relaxed in his chair, pulling out the headphones and leaning back in his seat, placing his feet up on the desk again and knitting his hands together and resting them on his stomach.

He was tired but he wouldn't leave. When the morning came, he would sleep. But right then, he needed to stay awake.

He just didn't want to leave her alone on her first night.


	8. Chapter 8

**New Chapter! Sorry for the wait guys! Thank you for your patience with with everything and I will try to get another chapter up tomorrow!**

 **...**

Crane woke subtly, blue eyes opening slowly as he lifted his head from his desk and looking at the laptop before his eyes opened wide as all he saw were the bright blue screens going across the desktop. He rubbed his eyes quickly and sat up in his desk, looking at the screen again and seeing nothing but the bright blue squares. Flashing on each in white letters were "No Connection". He cursed himself silently, he didn't even remember falling asleep. But the sun shone brightly through his windows and he knew he had been out for atleast 3 hours. He quickly stood from his desk and looked at the screen again. It may be a technical issue but he doubted it. He grabbed the items he needed for his morning session with Nirvana and opened his desk and grabbed a small bottle of his fear gas, pocketing it quickly and stepping out of the office.

...

Nirvana sat on the floor, her eyes closed as she listened and a metal pipe rested on her lap. The pipe came from the bed frame in the room, carefully unscrewed with her fingernails but not before she had moved the bed to each corner to take the wiring from the cameras. Since she wasn't caught the first camera, she knew Crane wasn't looking at them at the time and quickly went to work on the others. She opened her eyes as she heard the foot steps approach her room once again. She stood from the floor quietly and held the pipe in her good hand. She moved the the side of the door where the hinges were and hide as she heard the door being unlocked. She held the pipe tightly in her good hand and waited for the door to open.

...

Crane stood at the door, listening to any sound from the room. He paused for a moment, his eyes looked through the broken wood. He moved the wood with gentle fingers and took a better look inside and it looked like an empty room. He thought of what Nirvana would do? He wouldn't be suprise if she wasn't even in the room anymore. But he had a different idea. He turned the handle for the door slowly and with quick speed and strength, he opened the door all the way, Nirvana getting trapped between the wall behind her and the door in front. She yelped, startled at the action before cursing loudly. She looked up through the hole to see the ever intense blue eyes staring back at her.

"Those cameras cost a lot of money, I hope you didn't break them," he stated coolly. She scoffed and shook her head.

"All I did is pull out two or three wires. They can easily be patched back in." She grumbled quietly.

"Good," he held his hand against the door as he took a moment to look inside the room. He saw that her bed was lopsided and chuckled and shook his head, "Was the idea to get me down here so you could bash my brains in and then make a run for it?"

"Not to bash your brains completely in, just knock you out long enough to get out," she stated, setting the pipe on the ground with a small clank and crossing her arms over her chest. She looked similar to a pouting child who had got caught doing something they were not supposed to be doing. Crane looked down at her through the peep hole with a raised eyebrow.

"You've been here for 2 days and you've already broken 3 things," Crane remarked coolly, "I'm gonna have to fix all of this before I start work today. So you need a time out while I do that," he stated with a shrug before quickly throwing the glass bottle through the peep hole and hearing it shatter.

"Please no, I'm sorry, I'll help fix it, please don't do this to me again, please," she stated quickly as he felt her push against the door, trying to get out if her confined place, Crane however put his weight against it and kept her stuck, "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," the pushing against the door became stronger as he could tell she was losing it. Then suddenly everything stopped. Crane waited a few moments, feeling out what exactly was happeneing. He pulled the door forward and looked behind it to see Nirvana standing there, perfectly still, tears in her running down her cheeks as she looked in front of her. He pulled the door closed all the way and waited for when it would be safe to enter the room. When he did so, he saw Nirvana in the same spot as before, eyes wide as she stared in the same spot, paralyzed with fear. He cleared his throat as he entered the room and shut the door behind him. He grabbed his jacket off the broken bed and quickly pulled it on his arms. He walked around the room for a moment, deciding what he should start on first. He decided to pick up the glass from the corner in case Nirvana moved at all while she was out. He moved to her, seeing her eyes welled up with tears moved him slightly. He would never admit it though. He grabbed her shoulders lightly and moved her to the side of the broken bed, and she mindlessly moved as he did so, her feet barely moving as she did. He sighed quietly as he went outside and flipped the light switch he had outside. The room was illuminated in a soft warm glow as the lights turned on. There wasn't much power in this old wing but there was enough to have light when he needed it.

He moved to the corner where he had broken the glass and began picking up the pieces in silence. He heard Nirvana move and looked over his shoulder to see her crouched down and huddled into herself as she had down at the party. He kept his curiosity as quiet as he could. He'd find out what she saw eventually. It may not be that day or the next. But he'd find out if it killed him.

...

The heat was unbearable. It scorched her skin and made her weak. She felt nauseous as she concentrated on the flames licking her skin. The entire area was on fire. A roaring monstrous blaze that seemed to be consuming everything. The trees, the grass, the flowers, the animals. The animals screamed in mercy as the flames engulfed them and in the middle of it all was her. She didn't recognize the place she was in in her immediate memory but everything felt familiar. She kept her eyes closed, the tears she cried dropping on to her bare arms and it felt so cold compared to the heat surrounding her. Some things came into view then flickered out, her bed and the floor would show for a split second as she rode the waves of the toxin in her lungs.

She knew everything wasn't real. None of it could be real. But she couldn't keep her mind focused on that idea as the fire continued to rage. She felt her mind slipping from her firm hold, but she still continued to reach out for her sanity. Suddenly like a burst, her surroundings turned dark, blackness consumed her vision as she lifted her head from her knees to look out into the darkness, blackness, emptiness. But one thing looked back from the darkness, and it was a bright blue flame. Controlled and refined in its power. It was so close, Nirvana lifted her good hand out to touch it, but her hands went through unscathed by the heat. But suddenly the flame split into two smaller flames and they seemed to be looking right at her. Like eyes in the darkness. Then the voice came through again, came through the darkness, the same as before. It echoed through her ears as she reached out for the flame again, each but her hand went right through it again, each of them untangle to her finger tips. She sat back and watched the glowing blue orbs move about, seemingly coming closer to her.

...

Jonathon moved around, leaning up on his tip toes to fix the wires for the cameras, plugging them in carefully and then moving on to the next. When he was finished with that, he moved to the bed frame and mattress. He scratched the back of his head in thought. Should he put it back together? No. Because she would just take it apart again. He flipped the mattress and laid it flat on the ground. He then lifted the broken bed frame so it was laying on the unbroken side and pulled it out of the room. He got it outside the door and pulled it to the side of the wall. He sighed and stretched his arms, his lack of strength rearing it's head. He looked back into the room and saw Nirvana looking up and her hands reaching out as if to touch something in front of her. He leaned against the door frame as he took her in. She didn't look scared anymore, that moment had passed already. She was riding the wave back out already. He made a note to raise the dosage for next time. But it was obvious that she still wasn't on the right plane. She was still somewhere in her own mind. He moved so he was standing in front of her, pulling something out of his jacket and kneeling down in front of her.

...

The voice came to her again. Closer this time and more intelligible than before. The two blue flames took a more crystal clear color. Like two white hot flickers in the dark. She scooted closer to it as the voice came through.

"Nirvana, I can make it go away, just tell me what you see," the voice spoke softly as she looked deeply into the flames curiously.

She thought briefly on what the flame said and she answered honestly, " I just see you, it's really dark."

...

Crane narrowed his eyes as she spoke. He looked in her eyes and could see she was still lost. He spoke again, voice calm.

"What am I?" He asked gently, keeping himself relaxed.

Nirvana smiled, looking at him incredulously. What a silly question. She didn't know the answer to that. She thought about it a little while on how to answer and then the voice came to her again and it seemed clearer. Louder. And she recognized it immediately. She felt her body immediately thrown out of the darkness and the room flickered in her eyes.

"You are some kid from bum fuck Nebraska who nobody ever loved, Crane. That's what you are," she answered, her eyes seemingly coming back to this plane as she looked at Crane who was right in front of her. She watched as his eyes went from relaxed to narrowed in subtle rage.

"Welcome back," he stated coolly, standing up from his place on the floor so that he was standing over her. She breathed out deeply, feeling a heavy weight being lifted off her as she came back to reality. She looked around the room, seeing the mattress laying flat on the floor and the cameras seemed to be put back together. She scooted back down to her mattress and lifted herself with her good hand. He stood and watched as she rubbed her forehead and then her temple. He threw the thing he had been holding on to and it landed at her feet. She looked down at it with one eye and laughed gently.

"I'm not some patient with an inbalance who needs to write down their feelings, Crane," she stated but she leaned over and picked up the black journal. She examined it and saw one of the little white plastic unbreakable pens was tucked into the elastic holding the journal shut. She pulled the pen out and set it outside and opened the journal and looked through the pages but there were all blank. "What do you want to write about?"

"Whatever you want to write about," he stated turning his eyes away from her. He took a couple long steps around the room, "I'll put the lights on a timer. They'll turn on at 9 or 10 and turn off at 9 or 10. And..." he motioned his head to the hole in the door, " If you can keep from breaking anymore of my things, I'll leave the hole open in the door too," he explained, trying to sound as patient as he could though it was obvious that he was aggravated with her.

"Thank you, Jon," she stated honestly, casting her eyes to the floor. He moved towards the door and opened it, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Don't think this little outburst has me forget talking about your treatments, but we can save it for tonight after Im done with work," he explained coolly, "I'll bring breakfast and coffee when I get a chance," and with that he shut the door with a sharp snap and Nirvana could hear him walking away. She rested her head on her hand as she tried to get her focus back into reality as flashes of the nightmare world still flickered in and out.

...

Crane opened his office and was surprised to see someone already in there. He straightened his shirt as he addressed, "Can I help you?"

The person turned to look at him and he let his eyes look the man up and down before moving to his desk, "Yes, I'm detective Gordon, I have a few questions for you, Doctor Crane."


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys sorry for the delay!**

 **I've decided to begin doing shorter chapters so that I can progress the story a little faster. Leave lI've and all the good stuff in the comments!**

 **...**

Jonathon shut the door quietly as the man spoke with him. He felt his heart pound fast in his chest but he kept his cool emotionless face. He turned his gaze back to the detective in his office.

"Are you here for Nirvana? Did you find her out?" Jonathan asked with interest though a look of false worry passed his gaze.

"No we haven't. We have gone through all the attendants and all the bodies and we still can't find her. Mr. Wayne has had his help check the grounds a few times over and we haven't come up with anything besides a few witness statements saying they saw a woman in white being carried away by the terrorist," Gordon explained, taking a seat in the office chair while Jon moved to his desk chair and sat down in it as well. Crane ran a thin hand through his hair quietly as he pretended for his mind to race. Gordon continued, "I've talked to some of the orderlies here at the asylum and they explained that you two were pretty close."

"As far as work was concerned, we were partners. She was the only one I could trust in this place. But in our personal life, we never associated with one another," Crane explained, his answer honest and clearly worded.

"I suppose the orderlies believing a personal relationship between you two-"

"Nothing but rumors. Nirvana and I have fought at work about work disagreements and the nurses let their imaginations wonder," Jon answered before continuing, "Obviously I wouldn't mind a personal relationship with Nirvana, she is an amazing woman, but I would say we're both too hard headed for each other," Jon continued looking at Gordon, his face extremely relaxed before Crane stated firmly, "If the police need any assistance in finding her, please let us know. We want Nirvana back here," he finished.

"Well I did have a few questions for you, Dr. Crane. I had one witness stating that he saw you with Nirvana only a few moments before the attack happened. Did she mention any trouble she was having with anyone recently?"

"No she didn't. Again we weren't very forward with our personal lives. We were discussing what we were doing there that night-"

"And what were you doing at the Wayne party that night? You don't seem like the socialite type."

"I was meeting a head of the Gotham hospital to discuss funding for some renovations to the Maximum Security wing. Of course he decided to not show up. After speaking Nirvana, I left because you are right, I'm not the socialite type," Jon explained in a steady voice.

"And who were you meeting?"

"Thomas Elliot."

"You know what's funny? I haven't been able to find Dr. Elliot either. Do you know much about him?"

Jon saw an opportunity and quickly grasped it, "Thomas has a very strange relationship with the hospital. He spent some time here after a violent outburst in a summer camp. I was just an intern at the time and met him a few times. He seemed fine when we released him," Jon stated coolly, his voice relaxed as explained everything but he kept his eyes on the detective. Gordon nodded as he explained and went forward.

"I see, well I'm sure you have things to do Dr. Crane. I believe I saw some people clocking in, starting early today?"

"Without Nirvana here, I have to work the morning shifts in Maximum," he replied, another honest answer.

"Of course. Can I ask you a question off the record?" Gordon stated, his voice dropping gently as he stood up from his chair. Jonathon stood from his chair as well.

"Of course Detective," he stated, keeping his eyes on the man.

"Do you think she is okay?"

Jonathon gave an almost sincere smile as he nodded gently, "I fear more for the person who thinks he can keep a woman like that. He's in for fight."

...

Nirvana was curled up on her bed, the sun had begun to set and the hallway was starting to get dark. She hadn't gotten any food all day and the hunger pains hit her stomach in the late afternoon. She hoped sleeping would maybe get her mind off of the hunger growing in her stomach but she couldn't focus on sleeping. She made note to remember to save something from her trays when she received them so this wouldn't happen again. She had spent her day of solitude drawing in the notebook Crane had provided. Nothing spectacular, she wasn't an artist, but she did extravagant doodles, filling three pages, front a back, with small drawings, detailing each, going on to the next drawing, going back to the first one, then going back to the next. Mostly they were dark swirls, clouds, fire. Things she wanted to get out of her mind and onto paper but they were no clues to Crane on what they were. Just swirls, clouds, and little fire flames of a bored intellectual with too much time on her hands. When she turned from her curled position and went back to grabbing the book and pen and flipping it open again.

Her own etched and scratched at the paper as the sun went completely went out of sight and she sat in her silence. Her eyes were focused on the paper in front of her before she heard music gently playing into her room. She believed it just in her mind till she recognized the song. She looked up from the paper, shutting the book quietly. She pulled herself from the bed, her legs wobbling at first from her lack of movement but they quickly grew steady. She moved to look around the room but realized the music was coming from all around her. She moved towards one of the cameras, her eyes narrowing as she listened harder and realized the music was coming from the speaker set inside of the camera. It steadily grew louder but stopped at a moderately soft level. She tried to locate the song in her mind until finally it's name came to her mind as she took in its words. Ride by Lana Del Rey was playing over the speakers. She felt the depth of the woman's voice reach across the floor of room and reach her feet. She felt the song came on a little louder and Nirvana and closed her eyes tightly as she let the song fill her chest. She looked at the camera as if it had given her a gift but remembered the person behind the camera and turned her eyes away from it in a obviously false indifferent.

She would admit that she loved the song that played over the speakers. She appreciated Lana Del Reys unique style and voice and felt an unwanted grateful feeling in her stomach, replacing hunger with a will to thank Crane for the music. She'd thank him more if he brought her food sometime soon. She flopped back on to her mattress and suddenly felt the cold air rush in through the open hole in the wall. Had she just not noticed the cold before in her lost feeling of hunger and lonliness. Hopefully Crane was getting her a blanket for the night. He had taken his jacket back that morning and she was left without any protection except for the clothes on her back. She tried to muscle through it, wondering if her actions that morning had doomed to a night of no food and sleeping in the cold.

...

Crane had been standing in front of the blankets for a while then. He had put on the music as a way of apology. He hadn't had the chance to slip away even for a moment to get food for Nirvana and now it was dark. In a plastic bag on his arm was take out from a Japanese place down the road from the asylum. He had gotten Nirvana traditional Ramen and some pit stickers, hoping it would make up for his lack of care that day but now as he looked at everything in the grocery store, he felt lost at what to buy. He had found a hair brush and some bottles of water, some snacks, but he didn't know what kind of blanket he needed to buy. There were a few standard ones but he felt they wouldn't be thick enough to last during the winter. He touched a few and they felt rough and uncomfortable. He wondered through the aisle, finally settling on a grey blanket that felt fuzzy and he hoped that even though it wasn't extremely thick, the fuzz would provide extra warmth. He rushed out of the store, basically throwing money at the store clerk and jumped into his car.

He sped back to the asylum, parking in front of the abandoned wing, something he never did, and hurried inside. The music flowed out of the room as he went down the hallway. He slowed his steps as he didn't hear any movement inside and was careful, hoping that she hadn't planned another stunt while he was away but he began to hear a page turn and a soft humming come through to his ears. He looked through the hole in the door and saw Nirvana on her bed, her journal open as she seemed to be writing inside. He watched quietly before jingling his keys gently before unlocking the door, causing Nirvana to look up from her book at the door, her humming stopping in her throat as Crane opened and closed the door quickly.

"I apologize, I had a lot to do today, I'll try not to do this again," he stated quietly, setting the bags on the ground next to the mattress, Nirvana smelling the food immediately, feeling the cold leave her body as she reached side the bag with the food inside it. She grabbed the container of Ramen and the chopsticks inside the bag. She opened it and the warm aroma filled her senses, overwhelming her for a moment before she quickly dug in. Crane watched her as she ate, moving to the wall opposite of the bed and sliding down it slowly. He realized that she hadn't eaten since the night before and figured she needed to eat in peace so he stayed silent as he waited for her to take a breather.

She didn't stop for quite a few botes, shoveling noodles into her mouth as fast as could, eating all the pork belly inside before breathing deeply through her nose, chewing her current bite with a face of euphoria on her face. She looked at Crane who watched her quietly, waiting for a moment to speak or for her to speak, she wasn't sure. She took a sip of the broth inside of the cup, before swallowing it and speaking.

"You are forgiven this time. Thank you," she stated, her anger sated for the moment as the food filled her stomach. "Is that my phone you're getting the music from? I recognize all the songs."

"No, I downloaded your Spotify to my computer," he answered honestly, looking at the camera as the sounds still played from it. She nodded, taking another small sip of the broth quietly, her eyes turning from him to look at the cameras on the opposite corner of him.

"Are you planning on leaving the music playing?"

"I'm still deciding. Why, do you like it playing?"

"Yeah I do," she stated simply put no more words behind it as she put her container of Ramen down and looked through the bags. She quickly pulled out the blanket and unwrapped it from its bounds and put it around her shoulders crossing her legs and wrapping it around her. She then pulled the other bags closer and looked through them quietly. Pulling out the hair brush and setting it next to her and looking through the snacks and water bottles and looking up at Crane again.

"Thank you again."

"Its fine. Finish eating."


	10. Chapter 10

Nirvana decided to sit and enjoy her food for a moment. Her eyes stayed on her cup of Ramen until it was nothing but broth and she drank it quickly. She opened the plastic container in the bag to see 3 pot stickers. She picked up her chopsticks and grabbed the first pot sticker and took a bite. She chewed it slowly, letting it fill her and she breathed out of her nose in an almost sigh of relief, "These are really good. Where did you get these from?"

"The little Japanese place down the street once you get out of the Asylum limits," he answered.

"Did you get yourself anything?"

Crane shook his head, "No I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer," he stated dryly, feeling his stomach churn slightly at the thought of food. He cleared his throat and was about to speak but the plastic container with the rest of the pot stickers and the chop sticks were passed over to him, sliding along the concrete floor towards him. He looked at it before his eyes looked at Nirvana but she was busy grabbing one of the bottles of water and grabbing one of the little snacks that were in the plastic bags and crossing her legs back on to the bed.

Crane looked back at the container before picking up one of the pot stickers with his fingers and taking a bite from it. He didn't really appreciate food for taste, he usually ate cheap frozen dinners at hime. Something quick and easy. But those didn't hold anything against the luke warm pot sticker. He chewed in silence as he heard Nirvana open a bag of chips and begin to eat them.

They stayed silent for a moment as they ate together but apartment. Crane got up from his spot on the wall and picked up his garbage and hers and put it in the empty plastic bag sitting on the floor. Nirvana ate her chips quietly but looked at Crane as he was so close to her. His eyes stayed away from hers as he did this little chore before he grabbed a small bag of chips for himself as well. He went back to his spot and sat back down, stretching his long legs ahead of him and at that moment he looked at Nirvana who still had her eyes on him.

"You're being awfully quiet tonight, Dr. Nelson," he mentioned as he opened the bag of chips with a quiet pop and began eating them.

"I'm out of things to say, I suppose. I don't like repeating myself either," she replied with a shrug.

"I guess I'll talk then," he stated, placing the bag of chips on the ground and clasping his hands together in his lap as he looked at Nirvana, "Do you know what I found interesting this morning?" Nirvana reminded silent, just looking at him and waiting for him to continue, "What I found interesting is that your body seems to have built up a tolerance to the gas at a pretty quick rate. The first time you road that wave for 2 hours but today you only were there for maybe 20 minutes. 30 minutes max."

"It still felt like an eternity if that makes you feel better," she stated in a bitter tone.

"Well I'm not upset by it, I just find it very very interesting. But it makes testing the gas almost useless," he finished, lifting one hand to the back of his head and scratching it in thought. Nirvana piped in quickly.

"While I guess we don't have to do it at all, you know, since it would be useless," she stated with a slight shrug but the joking tone in her voice was evident. She knew it would never be that easy and the chuckle coming from Crane told her she was right.

"Nice try Nirvana, but I have a different idea. But it will take a little while for me to get it together. Maybe a week or so if I can focus on it. Maybe longer if I can't."

Nirvana watched as he picked up his bag of chips and stood up from his spot on the floor. He moved towards the door and looked back to Nirvana, "Slide the trash out the door, I'll get it in the morning. Relax for a while but just know you're not getting off so easy. I'll be back to try something new with you," he stated before exiting the room and Nirvana could hear the door lock behind him. She sat with herself in silence before continuing to eat, her mind wondering on just what Crane had planned.


	11. Chapter 11

During the week, things had been quiet. The music would play occasionally, atleast giving Nirvana some background noise when it felt like the isolation would kill her. Crane would drop off food 2 times a day. Once early in the morning and the other in the late afternoon. Nirvana would try to talk to him when he brought it but it seemed he was always leaving the second he dropped it off. She would sometimes talk to the camera, hoping to hear a reply but that was usually when the music would click on. She spent most of her time with her head in her book, doodling away until soon she was on the last blank page. She then would hold up the book to show Crane it was full and the next day a two new books were with her dinner. The only contact she had with Crane was when he took her to the abandoned shower section in the wing she was staying in. He had picked up her shower items from her apartment, sneaking around with his mask on and going late at night to make sure no police were there. They shouldn't notice just a few items missing until much later.

He grabbed her from her room late at night, Nirvana guessed it was probably two or three in the morning. He had lead her down to the shower room but had made sure to keep conversation brief. He told her how to work the showers and that he had routed the water there only for a few moments so she had to be quick. He then turned his back away from her as she got undressed. She turned on the water and the pipes shuttered and shook before the water hit her skin. It was warm and she suddenly melted into it. Crane chewed the inside of his cheek as he heard her sigh in content and made sure to keep his back turned, not wanting to push his luck and cause a fight.

Nirvana just stood there for a while before Crane cleared his throat, politely letting her know she needed to hurry up. She was brought back from her daze quickly grabbed her shampoo and washed her dirty hair. It took three times of washing and rinsing before she truly felt clean. She only did a small amount of conditioner to keep her hair from getting oily too fast because she didn't know when the next shower would be. After washing her body and turning off the water, the cold rushed her body. She began to shiver and Crane only half turned to give her a fresh, fluffy, black towel.

She quickly dried off and wrapped the towel around her. Crane turned then. Looking at her for a moment before motioning to a new set of clothes on the other side of the shower room where some benches were.

Nirvana could have cried then. She had been wearing the same clothes this whole time and new clothes were a beautiful gift. She went over to the benches and Crane quickly turned his back again as she dropped the towel to change. The shirt and leggings weren't hers this time. They still had tags on them.

"Hopefully they fit. I couldn't find any long sleeve shirts in your home," Crane muttered quietly.

"They should be okay," she stated blankly as she lifted the clothes and realized that they had the same smell as his jacket. She bitterly pulled everything on, everything was black and she picked up the towel and folded it and handed it to Crane as she walked our from behind him. She felt the smell linger on her flesh and she wanted to vomit but she pushed past it as she waited from Crane to lead her back to her room. He did so, opening the door for her and letting her out of the shower room.

Crane kept the silence as he unlocked her room door and watched as she took her tentative steps inside. He could tell something was bothering her but dropped it, not wanting to get stuck in a conversation with her. He shut the door and turned away from it and took his brisk steps away. Nirvana looked at the door before turning to her bed and her journals. She suddenly felt an extreme sadness take over her. It bubbled into her chest and suddenly her lungs took a deep breath and it was released into a sob. Her eyes began to well and tears escaped her before she could hold it back. She stood in the middle of her room as the tears came and sobbing continued. She covered her eyes with her arm but at the moment she didn't care what Crane heard or what he saw. She had never felt so helpless in her life. So out of control of her own life. She just stood there in the middle of her room and cried with everything she had in her.

...

Crane sat at his desk and heard the soft sound coming from his laptop before he saw what it was. He opened up the cameras and saw Nirvana standing in her room, hiding her eyes but nothing could hide what she was doing. She was crying. He watched quietly, his chest seizing. Nirvana Nelson, the only person he had considered a friend, was crying. He felt immense guilt shining inside his mind. He thought she would been happy to take a shower. It was one of the first things she had asked for, why was she crying now? He couldn't think with her sobs filling his head. He quickly opened the Spotify app on his computer and looked through her music before settling on an artist and clicked on it, the music drowning out her crying. She had looked up from her arm for a moment, a look of sadness filling the camera's gaze. Crane felt another stab in the heart but didn't move. He saw her chest heave and she did her best to compose herself but it seemed to be with no avail as tears kept falling down her cheeks. She moved to sit on her mattress and laid down and turned her back to the wall, ignoring the camera all together but Jon saw her hands move to cover her face once again and her body language showed she was still crying. Crane looked down at his desk and looked at the glass bottle with a florescent orange liquid in it and the needle right next to that. The treatments were going to start the next day, but he quickly turned his gaze away from it and looked at the computer again. He couldn't let a few tears get in his way. Other before Nirvana have cried like this and others would after. He repeated this thought in his mind as he stood up from his desk. He grabbed his jacket and moved out the door of his office in a hurry, he was going to go home and forget about it. Forget about it all. The new formula wasn't perfext yet but the last tests were going to be that night. He won't allow some girl's tears deter him from what he needed to do.

...

Sometime during the night, Nirvana had fallen asleep. She couldn't exactly remember when but she knew she had fallen asleep and when the morning arrived, the bright room lights had woken her up. She groaned and rolled over in her bed, her eyes puffy and swollen from the night before. She rubbed them softly, trying to wake up more and as she looked around her room, it had remained the same except for a bag next to her. She looked at the bag quietly before reaching over and bringing it over to her in silence. Inside was a plastic container of food, she opened it and smelled the aroma coming from inside. It was french toast and bacon, on the side was a small container with syrup in it and a plastic container of orange juice.

She pulled out a note that was at the bottom of the bag and read it in silence,

I'm sorry - JC

She opened one of her journals and stuck the note inside it quietly. She opened her food slowly, enjoying it as much as she could but she was still exhausted. Crying had took all of her strength and she felt like lead was holding down her arms as she cut the French toast apart and poured the syrup over it. She kept her eyes down and away from the cameras as she ate, not wanting to acknowledge Crane at that time. The music came on softly, clicking over the speakers quietly, but she kept her head down, not having the emotional strength to address his existence at that time. She finished her breakfast and put the trash back into the bag and pulled out the orange juice and sipped it before setting it back down and curling back on to her bed and closing her eyes to go back to sleep.

...

Crane watched her eat and saw her curl up and go back to bed. He gently pressed a button on his laptop and the lights dimmed in the room and casting it back into darkness. Only sunlight through and illuminated some features of the room but he could barely see Nirvana's form on the bed. He got up from his desk and left the music playing into the room while she sleep. He decided he would keep it on permanently. It was the least he could do.


	12. Chapter 12

The day had rolled on slowly. Nirvana had doodled in her journal for hours, trying her hardest to keep her tired mind preoccupied. Dinner came around what she guessed was 4:30 but no words were spoken. She didn't even get up to get the food right away, just to make sure she didn't have to speak with Crane. When she got her dinner she just ate it quietly. She didn't want to worry about anything except eating. And pretty much right after she ate she went back to sleep. The music had been playing all day and she had yet to hear a song twice. She realized she had so much music saved into her library that she could probably go another day without hearing a song repeated. She curled into bed, pulling her new blanket over her shoulders and closed her eyes. She just didn't want to deal with her predicament that day. She was already so heavy with emotion, she just wanted to sleep forever. And to her surprise, she slipped into slumber quickly, her body melting into her blanket.

...

Crane felt his stomach become filled with butterflies when he opened his laptop to see Nirvana sleeping soundly. The room had automatically switched off the lights and she was breathing deeply, but otherwise no movement came other than that. He looked at the computer in silence as his mind wondered. His eyes flicked to the desk before his fingers slide along the wooden top to the drawer near his leg. He opened it to see the black silk bag that had his needles and the new creation in his position. The liquid version of his toxin, much more potent, more condensed. Only a small amount was needed to start a fearful fire in the patient receiving it. He should know, he did the tests for it himself. The last few nights had been hard. Nightmares and hallucinations, he had been flying under his own medication for days. It lasted hours. Maybe 5 or 6, sometimes 8 hours. He had to sleep eventually, and when he did it was like the nightmare fuel was kicked into over drive. It had been a rough few weeks, between the little contact between he and Nirvana and the constant working, he felt more exhausted than he ever had. But he believed he perfected the formula. He picked out one of the unopened glass vials with the toxic orange looking liquid inside and a needle and placed them in his pocket.

...

Dreaming didn't happen often to Nirvana since she had been locked away. It seemed like everything was just black, but she seemed to sleep so soundly since her capture. She was always so tired then when she fell asleep, she was out. But that night she remembered dreaming. It was mostly colors and sounds. Soft whispers through the glows of lights that danced inside her mind. Maybe her mind was trying to escape, creating a peaceful world for her to fall into. She didn't stir at the sound of the door to her room opening or closing, and only sighed in slumber when a presence was knelt by the side of her bed. The chill that ran up her legs rose goosebumps as her blanket was pulled back to reveal her pale flesh. Crane's blue eyes took her in now, as he saw her sleeping form. He did his best not to think too much about what he was going to do to her. The Hell she was about to go through. But also the thought thrilled him as he uncapped the needle and began to fill it. The orange serum seemed to glow in the glimmer of the moon and he thought of how wonderful it would have been to have a patient he had no caring for. To cause real terror in a stranger. He sat down the glass vial and moved over to Nirvana's bare leg, running his fingers over the flesh ever so lightly, causing her to stir but not wake. But also he couldn't help but think how this new powerful serum, this innovation of terror, may finally be the key to finding out the fears of Nirvana Nelson. With this thought in mind, he quickly shoved the needle into her flesh and injected the serum, causing Nirvana to awake, startled and in pain. Her green eyes focused on his before they suddenly went blank. How quickly his new serum moved. Her breathing hitched in her throat as Crane through the needle to the side and stood back to watch her, his heart pounding in his chest as he gazed down at her.


	13. Chapter 13

It seemed almost immediately her eyes had begun to fill with tears as she scooted herself away from the edge of the bed and into the corner of the room. She couldn't focus on what she saw, it was almost like flashes of light with images hidden behind them. Sounds echoed in her head at a deafening tone and her hands shot up to her ears to cover them, trying to drain out the noise but to no avail. She let out a ragged sob, and it tore at Jonathan's heart but he held on as he watched her. She took a large inhale of air as she looked around the room, her green eyes wide, unable to see what was in the real world but Jonathon saw something he quickly noted, her pupils had enlarged, almost taking up her entire iris. He didn't remember seeing that on himself when taking the serum but he'd review the tapes he made to make sure. He moved to the other side of the room and leaned up against the wall. He watched Nirvana with intense interest as he pulled out his own notebook from his suit jacket and a pen and began to write, not looking down at the paper as he did so but kept his eyes on her.

...

The noises where terrible. Screams and cackles rippled through her mind and she felt hands on her body, wrapping around her ankles and her wrists before a sudden pull made her squirm against the wall. But she suddenly felt like she was being pulled through ice cold water. She took a ragged breath as the chill crushed her chest, pushing all her air from her lungs. Her room seemed to disappear, fading into darkness so that nothing but feeling was left.

Crane watched as she looked around, the look of desperation on her face causing his own flesh to crawl for all the wrong reasons but he kept everything at bay. He saw goosebumps raised on her skin and watched as she shivered. He continued writing in his journal, daring to look down once to flip the page and keep writing.

Nirvana kept her eyes open, fearing shutting them. She felt as if she were floating, being carried by the tides of her mind. She tried to relax her breathing and somehow was able to get a large inhale and exhale in, not wanting another repeat of the first time she was on this mess of a drug. She stole another deep breath before she felt her body being pulled through the ice once again, her green hues shutting tight then as another startled sob escaped her. She kept her eyes shut for a small amount of time, trying to shut out the dark laughter and cackling continuing to echo through her mind but to no avail. She slowly opened her eyes and was surprised when she actually saw something. She was confused by the familiar buildings and sounds of the city but she quickly recognized it as the alley that was outside her childhood apartment in the Narrows. She heard the gunshots and sounds of sirens. She felt a comforting sense wrap itself around her heart as atleast this was a terror she knew very well. When one lived in the Narrows, you always feared for your life. She stood up from the ground she sat on, her hand brushing a trash can next to her. It all felt so real, the dirty sidewalk under her feet, the chilled air around her neck and bare feet. She looked down at herself and recognized the clothing as her own. But they looked old, clothing she probably wore when she was younger.

She moved down the alleyway as she gently seemed to follow the footsteps she had walked so many times before. The night seemed so familiar but she couldn't remember exactly why. She turned and walked some more. The city almost seemed darker than it had usually been. Almost like a black mist was hanging overhead. The street lights even looked dim. She followed her instinct, pulling towards the front door of her and her father's apartment. Her eyes kept down on the sidewalk as she usually had when walking home from her job. Making eye contact was dangerous. It drew attention to oneself and it was never attention a young woman wanted. She made the last turn to walk to her apartment and stopped suddenly, her green eyes wide as she looked down at the apartment stoop, people surrounding it but none of the bodies had faces. They made no sound. Nirvana finally remembered what day it was. It was the day her father had died. She seemed to glide through space surrounding the scene. Her father had died in a puddle of his own vomit, drunk, and alone. She had took some extra hours that night and her father had gone out in a drunken slumber to meet her at work and hadn't gotten past their apartment when he had thrown up and collalpsed. It had been so cold. He wore no coat and no one had stopped to look at him until they were sure he was dead. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked down at his blank face, his blue eyes looking into cold concrete. She collapsed to her knees as, the pavement hurt but the crushing pain in her chest hurt even more.

She knew why she had seen this moment. This was the moment where she had become truly alone. And the moment she had felt true fear. She put her head into her hands and began to cry in her usual silence, her shoulders shuttering but no sounds escaped her lips.

Crane watched her with interest, his pen no longer moving on the page as he watched her crying on the floor. How he wished he could see what she saw. But kept silent as he watched her lift her head, eyes running with tears. She held her hand out to nothing but whatever she was reaching for helped her off the ground. He crossed his arms across his chest and kept silent as Nirvana turned and moved back towards the bed.

Her green eyes were focused on something, leading her to a new darkness was a thick black mist, it's shape like a hand with elongated nails, almost looking like claws while the rest of the form was more like whisps of air that embraced her. It reminded her of a cartoon where the sweet smell of a pie would bring a wolf to the window sile of unexpecting home. It beckoned her with a sweet come hither motion while it also simultaneously pushed her along before it quickly evaporated into thin air and Nirvana looked around with a renewed panic. There wasn't much she could see, just darkness. She could hear the voices in her head again with a louder echoing through her mind. But soon everything was drowned out by the recognizable rumble that made her stomach drop to her feet.

Soon the new area was illuminated when a violent flash of blue lightning shot right in front of her. The skies swirled with dark menacing clouds and at her feet was dark murky water. The lightning had made the hair on the back of her neck and on her arms stand up. She felt her chest tighten and her lungs seize as she was reminded of the first time she was on this mad ride of Crane's. She closed her eyes as tight as she could and wrapped her arms around herself as the rumble of thunder that followed the lightning vibrated through her. The water around her feet pulled and twisted as rain began to fall from the clouds. Lightning struck again and she saw sparks travel through the water towards her feet and she stumbled backwards away from the rushes of electricity. Thunder echoed again and she fell to her knees once again as she covered her ears looked around in a panic before her eyes settled in one spot.

Crane watched as she fell the ground again, making note to get ice for her legs tomorrow to help with the probable swelling she would get. But his eyes were quickly taken when Nirvana looked directly at him and he was caught off guard when he looked at her eyes. He quickly moved from his position on the wall and moved a few quiet steps towards her. She followed his movements however and he wondered if she could actually see him. But he didn't worry about that as he grabbed her chin in a firm hand and held her head still as he took his phone out with his free hand and snapped a quick picture of her eyes. There was no white of the retina anymore. Her eyes were only the inky blackness of her pupil. He knew his eyes didn't have that dramatic change when he tested himself. Crane quickly put his phone back in his pocket before taking that hand and holding her face still as he inspected her eyes closer. She obeyed the strong hands blindly, though every now and again she would wince when he would take his fingers to tenderly pry open her eyelids wider to get a better look or to move her hair out of her face. He spoke softly, holding her face with a new gentleness.

"What do you see, Dr. Nelson?"

Nirvana focused on the blue flame ahead of her, flickering in and out as the rain pelted it but never fully extinguishing, it's voice coming through the sound of thunder and rain hitting the water that surrounded her. She answered it's question without thinking, "Its so loud," she whispered quietly.

Jonathon was surprised by her honest answer but didn't lose his cool as he continued, "Where are you?"

"I don't know," she answered before repeating, "Its so loud."

"What do you see?" He asked, keeping his eyes on her pure black ones but she suddenly turned her head as if she had been pulled to something else's attention. He gripped her chin in a firm grip once again and turned her head back to face him and looked down at her and spoke with a firm tone, "What do you see?"

She looked up at the blue flames as they continued to flicker before her and she felt tears well up into her eyes again as she tried to think of an answer, "I just see you," she stated as the sound of rain began to fade from her ears and the thunder was only a thumping in the darkness.

"What am I, Nirvana?" Crane questioned persistently, his grip on her face strong like iron as he kept her attention on him. He felt close, so close to finally achieving the one answer he craved most.

"I don't know, I don't know," she stated honestly, whispering still as tears fell down her cheeks. She felt the grip on her tighten and she winced in pain as she felt nails dig in.

"Tell me, what am I?" He stated loudly and she whimpered quietly as she felt the pain of his nails cut her flesh lightly.

"I don't know. Please stop," she begged and Crane paused for a moment before tossing her face away from him and he stood up from her. He couldn't help the slight gratification he felt at her pathetic tone of voice but he wanted more than that. He went back to his spot on the other side of the room and bitterly took his post with his arms crossed over his chest. They still had a long time before this trip was over, he'd get what he wanted from her. He'd find out by the end of their night together.


	14. UPDATE

UPDATE:

Hey guys. So first things first want to thank those of you who have stuck around even though my chapter updates have been far and few in between. There was some drama happening in my own life and I had to take time to heal both physically and mentally. I appreciate your patience and your loyalty!

Second thing is I want to inform you all that I will be changing the Rating of the story from Teen to Mature. Not for any reason other than its 'bout to get gritty, so I want to make sure to cover my bases and just set the Rating to M as a precaution.

Third, the story is about to get a little dirty so be prepared for that

Fourth, I love you guys and thank you again for your kind reviews and the consistent views from the avid readers out there. I'm working on the next chapter today so hopefully it will be up soon.

Thank you again!

~Scriptophobia99 (AKA Sam)


	15. Chapter 14

Hours had passed as Crane had taken a moment to rub his tired eyes. It seemed as though after his outburst, time had slowed to a screeching halt. Minutes passed like hours and the hours have felt like eternity. Sometimes Nirvana would get up and wonder as she was lead by her nightmare through one realm to another. Now however, she had laid down on her bed with some guidance from Crane. She wasn't sleeping, but going through her inner demons in silence, wide eyed but no tears. The sun had begun to tease at the corners of the door and soon the lights flickered on overhead. If she didn't snap out of it soon, he was going to have to leave her to her own devices and that made his stomach turn. As the lights grew brighter, so did her music coming on over the speakers. He hadn't considered himself a music enthusiast, but he had grown to appreciate the personal insight it gave him on his patient. The song that came on he hadn't heard yet and listened as the sound of ocean waves danced through the speakers and into the room and the gentle plucking of strings and smooth movement of violin tunes and was greeted by a sweet feminine voice. Then a deep male. He listened to it with interest as Nirvana stirred slightly. His eyes rested back on her as she rose from her bed, sitting as her black hair fell like a waterfall from her shoulders. Her face stayed facing away from him but he heard her voice come softly and joined the voices from the song. Crane watched her silently.

"He said, 'Now hush love, here's your gown.

There's the bed, lantern's down.'

But I don't want to go to sleep; in all my dreams, I drown," her voice was sweet and soft with the music and Crane cautiously moved from the wall not making a noise as he moved towards her. He knelt down behind her as her voice continued to sing the somber tone.

"-The only thing I beg of you

Don't make me go to sleep"

The sky it flashed, heave ho, heave ho, His pillow toed to the brink.

The curtains ran between my legs as we began to sink.-"

Crane very gently placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jerk it out of his hand as she let her body continue to ride the nightmarish wave she had been forced into. She murmured the song quietly, her voice even softer than before. He tried again, placing his hand on her shoulder and applied light pressure. She continued to murmur and he very carefully used his hand to pull her down to the sheets to lay down with her head resting on the pillow. His eyes rested on her face as he saw it better, up close and personal. Her eyes were slowly returning to their jade green color and her face was stained with tears. Her lips looked red as if she had been biting them but otherwise she didn't look too bad. He couldn't help but smile quietly. The feeling of pride filled his chest. What a trooper. She had made it through 7 hours of it so far and she handled it much more gracefully than he ever had alone in his home. And he had even given himself lighter doses. Her eyes stayed open as they looked at the wall but he could see that sleep would claim her soon. He took a seat next to the mattress as he continued to look at her.

Should he try asking her again? Maybe being in between worlds would help him achieve an answer. He saw her eyes become half-lidded and he moved a few strands of her black hair out of her face, causing her to jerk again, but her eyes stayed relaxed. He did so again but she didn't move this time. His fingers gently touched her forehead and he felt her skin was cold but damp. He nodded quietly and made a slight note of it in the back of his mind. He ran his fingers down her neck in a soothing motion and Nirvana breathed in deeply.

"Can you tell me now, Nirvana? What did you see?" Crane asked quietly, running his fingers up and down her neck, not sensually but in a comforting way. Nirvana grumbled quietly in a response and his heart raced in excitement, "one more time, what did you say?"

Nirvana swallowed the dry lump in her throat and spoke again though still much louder than a whisper, "Go to hell, Crane." His chest became aflame with rage in an instant but he cooled it quickly. His fingers removed themselves from her flesh in a cool motion.

"If you just told me, it'd make your life so much easier," he stated with an icy tone, which made Nirvana laugh darkly. His ears picked up something that he had never heard before, a darkness that he hadn't recognized as being inside his comrade.

"Make me suffer, Crane, and I'll make you suffer as well," she stated in the same deep tone as her laugh. Jonathon ran his tongue over his teeth in a quick motion and shook his head in frustration. He took a deep breath through his nose and stood up from the side of the side of the mattress.

"How long do the hallucinations last?" She asked coolly, her eyes still staring at the wall.

"About 8 to 9 hours. So they should stop soon. I have to go to work," he stated with a quick movement to the door of the room. He thought about telling her not to go to sleep but then smirked and kept that information to himself. It should be interesting to know she was probably having terrible dreams while he was at work. Nirvana stayed quiet then and curled into herself on her mattress and Crane quietly left the room. That day may not have been a success but the next one would be. He didn't know how much to step up the game but he'd figure it out. After a quick power nap in his office and a good night's sleep for the both of them, he'd make sure that their next meeting would be him hearing her scream her fears to him. He relished in the thought as he walked to his office.

...

Nirvana had fallen asleep around 11am and had quickly woken up drenched in sweat after a terrifying nightmare. She had collected herself and fallen back asleep but the same thing had happened. And again. And again. It wasn't until 4pm that she received uninterrupted sleep. She figured Crane had done this on purpose and all she had the strength to do was flip off the cameras from her bed but she didn't get up all day. When food was brought to her, she didn't move. She wasn't hungry. At least not yet. She was just so tired. The lights had clicked off and placed Nirvana in the dark which was both terrifying and relieving. She didn't see any hallucinations in the dark which she was thankful for. But she wondered if Crane was going to come back. This was enough to keep her laying in her bed with her eyes slightly open but not enough to keep her from falling asleep a couple hours later and not moving until the early morning hours.

She turned in her bed, wondering what had woke her up, pulling the blanket over her shoulders, nestling into it and closing her eyes once again before they shot open when she heard voices. She quickly jumped out of bed, her tired body resisting for a moment before she went to the window in the door and listening closer. She knew those voices. The images of the people they belonged to came clear into her mind. She waited for the right moment before her hand shot forward out of the window and grabbed the shirt of one of the people walking past and pulled them to the door with whatever strength she had left.

Familiar pale skin and wicked grin came into view while green eyes were looking into a pair that matched her own. A face squeezed into the remaining space there was next to the person Nirvana had grabbed.

"Doc! Long time no see! What are you doing in there?" The giggling voice came to Nirvana as a dose of reality. Joker grinned widely while Harley did the same.

"Whooooa look at her eyes!" Harley squealed in excitement.

Nirvana kept her grip on Joker's purple dress shirt as she held him against the other side of the door. Her face was serious and dark, her eyes glimmered against the moon light entering the room and Joker got a good look at them as Harley commented on their appearance. The green shimmered brightly but laced with the green were streaks of toxic orange.

"Get me out of here," she stated darkly, her voice steady as the pair of them took her in with a jovial look in their eyes.

...

Crane sat at home with his shirt off as he worked on something. Sweat dripped off his forehead and soaked his hair. Glacier eyes were focused as he turned a wrench, tightening the bolt on something. In front of him was a threatening looking chair, as if it was taken straight out of a horror movie. It was black wood with worn red leather covering the seat, back, and arms of the chair. Metal clamps were attached to the arms and legs of the chair and these were what Crane was fixing. He'd make Nirvana tell him what he wanted to know, it was all a matter of turning up the heat a little bit.

...

Song Credit!

"In All My Dreams I Drown" by Jessica Lowndes which was in Terrance Zdunich's Devils Carnival


	16. Chapter 15

**Things are about to get juicy. Leave me love in the comment section. I live for your feedback!**

 **...**

Nirvana tried to hold on to the dress shirt of Joker as tight as she could but when his hands grasped her wrist he was easily able to pry the fabric from her grip. However neither Joker nor Harley backed away from the door but rather looked inside to see what was inside. Nirvana continued to speak, "Please, get me out of here. He's been experimenting on me, I can't take much more," she stated honestly.

"Well wait, let me look at you," he stated looking next to them and flipping on the light switch and the room was illuminated with its warm light. Joker and Harley looked at Nirvana with interest. Nirvana suddenly felt ashamed and very self concious and crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the ground. Harley whistled lowly as she looked at her, "What, has he not been feeding you? You've only been missing a couple weeks. It looks like you've lost a ton of weight!" She commented before Joker pushed her face away from the window with a purple gloved hand and his face was the only one Nirvana could see. His hand came through the window and he beckoned her closer with a wiggle of his finger and Nirvana did so, stepping closer so that her face was next to the window where Joker's hand grabbed her chin and turned her head to both sides as if looking for something before tsking loudly.

"Oh darling, we can't take her out yet, she isn't fully cooked yet," he spoke to Harley before taking his hand back. Nirvana looked desperately out the window.

"No please. Please just let me out," she stated loudly, before she saw Harley's face came back into the window, "Please Harleen, have mercy, let me out," she pleaded while Harley made a face, "I told you not to call me that," and with that her face disappeared.

"I'm sorry, Harley, please. We were friends. Please let me out!" Her plea was met with silence. "PLEASE!" With this last cry, Joker's voice came back.

"We'll check back soon, don't worry Doc! We'll come get you when your goose has fully been cooked," he stated before speaking to Harley as he flicked off the light, leaving in Nirvana in darkness, "We have to tell all our friends that we found the Doc. We've all been so worried!" Before cackling echoed in the hallway and she heard footsteps moving away. Nirvana couldn't help the angry scream that echoed from her room, punching the door in a blind fury, causing her hands to throb in pain but she didn't care.

She wanted out more than anything. She just wanted to get the fuck out.

...

The next day had been a quiet one. When the lights had flickered on, Nirvana had already been staring at the ceiling, she heard her food being brought to her and this time she had gotten up to kick the plate back under the door, hearing the metal tray clatter against the wall of the hallway and hearing the food scatter across the floor. She was moving back to her bed when she heard Crane sigh audibly but she made no point to speak to him. She wasn't hungry, she was just angry. She felt full on the anger in the pit of her stomach. She went back to staring at the ceiling in silence.

...

Dinner seemed to come sooner than usual. She had been counting the minutes as she continued to lay on her bed with her arms crossed over her chest. She heard food being pushed under the door and the smell had brought her back to the real world. She looked down at the floor to see a large brown bag instead of the usual metal tray. She quietly got up from her bed and grabbed the bag. She looked inside to see french bread, some roast beef, and some potato soup. This was a meal Crane had seen her eat a million times for lunch. She pulled everything out of the bag and saw a bottle of water and under that was another Crane note. She opened the note and read it quietly. Her stomach immediately dropped, seeing the script written into the paper.

"Be sure to eat everything, you're going to need it.

-JC"

She breathed deeply through her nose as she reread it before folding it and moving to stick the note into her journal with the first note and placed the journal back underneath her pillow. Part of her didn't want to eat, just to spite him but she knew that would be a mistake. She ate in silence and noticed for the first time in the day that the music wasn't playing. She was suprised that she hadn't noticed sooner but figured it was because she had been focusing more on her situation than anything else. She knew she'd be going on another nightmare fueled trip soon and now she was worried. She shouldn't have kicked the food. It had made him mad. She should have learned not to anger the beast but she had been upset. And she hadn't acted out of anger too much she had been in this tiny room. She suddenly felt claustrophobic as she looked at the wall in front of her and took a bite of the bread and chewed in continued silence.

...

The night had come quick but Nirvana had fallen asleep faster than she had expected. She had been over taken by exhaustion so suddenly she thought maybe Crane had put something in her food but she had laid down and let sleep take her. There wasn't much she could have done if he came for her. She could try to fight but he could over come her easily. She was losing her strength more and more by the day. She slept as soundly as one could with the thoughts that weighed on her mind. Her eyelids fluttered open when she heard a slight knock on the door. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she tried to see if she had imagined the sound but when she saw a hand stick through the window and give a slight wave. It didn't look like Crane's hand but she still had a hard time willing herself to get up if it was a trap. Finally a pair of forest green eyes looked at her through the the hole in the door. She gently stood up from her bed and moved towards the door but keeping her distance till she saw the ginger eyebrows on a young face.

"Edward?" She asked quietly. Edward Nigma had been her patient for the past year, having been able to create a better relationship with him than Crane could have ever hoped she would achieve. She would never say she could outwit the genius but she had kept him entertained enough and had created a very effective therapy regiment to keep his mood swings under control when they were in session. No doubt Joker had told him where she was being kept but it didn't explain why he was out. Riddler could be a flight risk but was often able to be controlled enough to keep his escapes to a minimum. She moved closer to the door and looked through.

"Edward you have to let me out, please. Doctor Crane has been keeping me in here, performing experiments and I think it's gonna get really bad tonight," Nirvana explained, her eyes looking at him with desperation in her voices.

"Oh I know, Doctor. Or should I just call you Nirvana since you're clearly not a doctor anymore. Anyway, I've known that Crane has had you kept somewhere, I just wasn't sure where. Luckily Joker came by to tell me," Nigma explained, looking at her face with a smug look before looking around the room. Nirvana got closer to the window and spoke again.

"Edward let me out. Please," she stated as firmly as she could while her eyes gave her weakness away.

"I just came by to have you solve a riddle none of the doctors can solve," he stated boredly, ignoring her coolly.

"Edwa-"

"I visit the weak, but seldom the bold. What am I?"

She sighed audibly before shaking her head, "I don't know Edward, what?"

"Ooh that's no fun! I know you know it. I visit the weak, but seldom the bold. What am I?" He repeated, his voice sounding jovial as green eyes glimmered in the darkness.

Nirvana rested her forehead against the door as she thought about it for a moment, "Are you Fear?"

"Oh no, I'm not fear," Edward replied with an eyeroll but before Nirvana could speak a second voice chimed in.

"I am," it stated and Crane's arm snaked into the room and placed something over her mouth and when she breathed in she immediately got light headed and the second breath made her fall to the floor. Crane opened the door and both Riddler and him looked at the collapsed woman on the ground. Riddler sighed and shook his ginger head.

"Don't kill this one, Scarecrow. I actually liked this doctor," he stated and Crane turned his gaze to the man next to him.

"Get out of here before I change my mind," Jon stated as he bent over and picked up Nirvana bridal style and turning on his heel and walking away from the Edward who looked after them before also turning and began walking out of the asylum in the dead of night. Crane cradled Nelson as they walked towards the basement of the wing that she resided. He had set up everything especially for her. Everything was ready, clean needles, fear serum, food, water. She would tell him her greatest fears but until she did she would beg for freedom.

...

Green eyes fluttered open slightly as she felt something tightened around her left ankle. She heard noises but none that she recognized. Her groaned quietly and felt pain shot from the back of her head. She tried to left her hand to run it over the sore but her hand was met with resistance. Her eyes opened more and she looked around to see that her wrist was clamped down. She tried to left her body but her legs wouldn't move either. Her breathing quickened as she looked down to see Crane looking up at her, blue eyes filled with something she hadn't seen from him in the two years she had known him. Malicious, sadistic intent. She pulled at her restraints as hard as she could but nothing happened except pain.

"Nirvana," his voice came like ice to her ears and she closed her eyes so that she didn't have to look at them, "You've got one more chance," he stated in the same chilled voice, "Tell me what you saw," he demanded.

She kept her eyes closed and willed herself to stay strong. She had to stay strong. Fuck Crane. Fuck what he had done. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. She wouldn't let him see her give up. Jon sighed and shook his head. She heard him move around, metal clinking together before she felt a sharp stab in her leg and her eyes shot open as she saw the thick orange liquid going into her flesh.

"You'll tell me Nirvana, it just depends on how difficult you want to make it for yourself. I don't mind waiting," he stated as he pulled the needle out of her flesh. She felt the toxin take effect almost immediately, feeling the same ice cold water that had engulfed her before. Just as the real world left her, Crane stood so that he was leaning over the chair, his face only inches from hers.

"No matter how long it takes."


	17. Chapter 16

She had spent days in the darkness. In the room she had atleast the sun and moon to keep track of time but in the basement, she could only keep track of time of when Crane came and left. Her body was stiff and sore and her eyes had become used to the darkness. She was constantly riding the wave of fear toxin, the good doctor being kind enough to bring her a new dose every 8 hours. Some days he sat with her, speaking to her in the darkness. He fed her and would release her only to lead her to the bathroom every few hours as well. She had never been so weak. But what she could say was that she had yet to tell Crane what she saw in her constant state of fear. She actually hadn't spoken in what felt like days. Since she had woken up to being strapped in the chair, she had stayed silent except for the few whimpers and sobs uttered from her. Crane had began upping the dosages. But it didn't seem to work the way he would have liked because instead of sharing her fears, she simply became to drugged up to speak at all. So he lowered the dosage back down so that she was coherent in their sessions.

...

Even more days. It had to have been weeks since they began. By all standards, Nirvana knew this was now torture. Her mind had already began degrading and she found it hard to distinguish reality from her nightmare world. Sometimes she would believe she was seeing Crane in front of her and the true scene of her situation but then blackness and monsters would come from the shadows and consume her once again. Sometimes she talked to voices of things not there and Crane would speak and remind her it was just her and him. She'd feel hands on her but when she screamed they would disappear and she never knew if it was Crane or her imagination.

However, she was coherent enough to realize her body was growing a dependence to the drug. She found herself counting down minutes when the fog would begin to subside, waiting for Crane to return with what she wanted. Maybe it was because the nightmare world was easier to accept than her reality. Maybe it was just an addictive mix of chemicals. But she would anticipate the next dose, get cold sweats if she didn't receive it on time.

While this continued, Crane became more cruel as the days went on. He had placed his hands on Nirvana despite his inner disgust at this action. He had whispered descriptive ways he'd ruin her completely. Had watched her crying when he got in her face and screamed at her. He was becoming tired of this game they were playing but knew he couldn't give up. His obsession matched her in desperation. How could she not have given up yet? How is she still even breathing? And he couldn't help but be frightened by her physical change. When he would take her to the bathroom, her body was becoming more and more frail, paler and paler. Her veins were black under her pale flesh. Her eyes and hair is what shocked him most though.

The serum had a drastic change on her eyes. The orbs were either inky black depending on how deep she was into her nightmare world but if she was coming down, they were a unnerving orange color, the green almost completely faded. The orange rivaled the neon orange glow of his serum and he wasn't sure why they changed this way. While her hair had gained a streak of white at the base of her neck, and had lost its beautiful sheen. He often kept his eyes from her, guilt twisting in his stomach. He was turning someone he had always regarded as beauty incarnate and turning it tired and worn and weak. But part of him relished in being the one who had twisted her in such a dramatic way. She had stopped fighting him. She had stopped fighting all together.

...

More days had passed. Nirvana was truly unsure of how long she had been in that chair. How long she had been on the constant drug ride. Her mind barely created coherent thoughts anymore. Hallucinations controlled her thought process. Her voice seemed like it was almost gone, but in the darkness she would whisper nonsense to whatever creatures she saw. Food tasted bland and noises in the real world didn't effect her. She had come out of her drug induced nightmare long enough to know Crane was around much more than he used to be. He was trying a more intense form of "therapy" were she was constantly attached to an IV. He was becoming more frustrated. Nirvana seemed to become cold and unfeeling to her own fears. She followed the same hallucinations every day and though there were times she still cried and whimpered in the darkness, most times she had her eyes closed and rolled head back and forth. He had created a zombie. He thought about just ending it for now. He had missed so much work recently, claiming he was doing work for an asylum in another city. Instead he stayed down in the basement with Nirvana. He ate there, he bathed there, he slept there.

She'd have to give up soon. She couldn't last much longer like this.

...

Nirvana had felt the fog lifting slowly. She expected it to fall back down soon and just kept her eyes closed. But as the hours ticked by, she felt her joints ache. Her muscles twitched and clenched as she was coming completely off the drug. Her eyes opened but was surprised when she actually saw something she hadn't seen in a while. It was sunlight. Crane was sleeping in the corner, his feet up on the medical table in the corner and his head resting against the wall. She turned her head slowly and her eyes took a moment to focus on the IV next to her. It was completely empty. She breathed in through her teeth as she felt her body creak against her attempts to sit up further in the chair, her back aching. She blinked a few times as she examined the room she was in, seeing it clearly for the first time in the amount of time she had been in the room. Needles littered the floor and so where different pairs of clothes, some she recognized as her own but also some of Crane's. She felt heat sweep over her flesh which she felt was unseasonably hot but she assumed it was because she had felt like she was constantly stuck in ice on the serum. She rested her head back on the chair as she closed her eyes once again. Her body wouldn't stop twitching. She raised a hand to wipe a bead of sweat off her forehead and her brain clicked very quickly and suddenly as she looked at her hand and then down at her body, moving her legs carefully and saw that her body wasn't strapped down anymore. She looked at Crane suddenly and remained completely quiet as her hand travelled to the IV in her arm and she pulled it out slowly, grimacing at the sight but kept her stomach easy. She laid it down on the arm of the chair before very carefully standing up from the chair. Her legs almost gave out on her, the muscles resisting the new movements and felt like she had to learn how to walk again but she gripped the chair tightly as she steadied herself. She kept silent though the pain was excruciating. Her eyes would dart over to Crane constantly, making sure he still slept. Finally she began moving towards the door and opened it quietly and shut it as gently as she could. She looked around, the basement was lit with sunlight, the windows only being half covered by the ground so she was able to lead herself to some stairs. It took a while to make her way up them and when she reached the landing, she waited for her legs to stop aching before she turned down the hall and walked along it, hoping she'd find an exit door. The more she walked, the more strength her legs got but as the blood in her body began to pump faster and her muscles tensed, her head began to cloud. She would see hallucinations as she walked, and she had to focus on the ground, knowing what she was seeing wasn't real. It was all just her imagination.

She kept walking, being as quiet as she could but at some points some floor boards would creak with old age and she would pause and listen to the building and hear just the mumurs of her imagination. She was dripping sweat from the effort but soon she could walk without the support of the wall next to her. Her senses came back to her slowly. She could smell just how disgusting the scent of the asylum and herself were and she wanted to retch but she kept it down. Her eyes took in the bright glow of the sunlight coming through the windows. She saw what she hoped was the front door but a dark figure stood in front of it. She stared at it for a moment and figured it was just her imagination as other hallucinations danced at the corners of her eyes. She kept heading towards what she believed was the exit but soon she heard the whispers become louder in her ears and she had to stop to close her eyes and focus.

" _Turn back"_

 _"Its him"_

 _"He's going to take you back"_

 _"He's gonna get you"_

She opened her eyes and looked towards the end of the hall to see the dark figure still standing there. As if to aid her, the fog cleared her mind and her eyes focused on it to see it twist and transform to the tall lanky man, blue eyes burning into hers. Her breath hitched in her throat. He stood calm and composed, looking at her.

Crane was confused why she had still approached him. He thought if she had somehow wondered off and had been looking for him. But as she looked at him again, orange piercing him as fear overtook her. She had just realized it was him and help but chuckle as she stopped walking. A dark smirk stayed on his lips as he began taking long strides toward her but was caught off guard when she turned and on wobbly legs, began to run.

Her legs screamed in resistance but she couldn't go back. She couldn't be left in the dark again. The voices kept speaking in her ears.

" _Run"_

 _"Don't let him take you"_

 _"We believe in you, go, run"_

She made considerable distance until she made it to a corner and she could hear Crane's quick, heavy footsteps behind her. Her legs gave out as the sharp turn hurt more than she could describe. She fell to the ground and Crane's footsteps slowed as she scrambled to get on her feet but as she was back on her feet two strong arms grabbed her, one wrapping around her throat while the other was around her waist. She tried to scream but only a hoarse yelp escaped her. Crane took his long leg and swept her legs, causing her to fall hard to tile floor.

 _"Fight him"_

 _"You can get away"_

 _"Fight!"_

She picked up her leg and gave a fierce kick towards Crane's leg and was surprised when he fell to the ground as well. She scrambled again, but Crane's hand wrapped around her ankle and she couldn't get up. She scratched at the ground desperately as she tried to crawl away but she soon felt her body being dragged along the floor. She yelled for help, trying to pull herself away from his grip but her weak body couldn't take anymore. Her arms tried to grab the wall but there was nothing to hold on. Tears fell down her face as she kept trying to pull herself away.

 _"You have to tell him"_

 _"If you tell him he'll stop"_

"Please Jonathan, please don't take me back," she pleaded as she tried to kick out of his grasp but to no avail.

 _"Just tell him"_

 _"We'll make him pay for it but now you have to tell him_ "

"PLEASE JON HAVE MERCY, PLEASE!" she begged, her voice gaining volume but cracking in the middle of the sentence.

Nirvana looked up at the hall as she was being dragged and saw the clawed black shadow hand approaching her face. It cupped her cheek and a long nailed thumb wiped away the tears though of course they remained. Black shadow demons lined the hallway and her vision began to darken. Was this death? Was this the beginning of death? Was she being welcomed to the gates of hell? The demons gained voices and some approached her as they spoke.

" _Tell him Nirvana."_

 _"Tell him."_

 _"You'll die if you go back"_

 _"You must tell him_ "

She cried audibly, her hands covering her eyes as her dignity and pride fell in the form of tears.

"Please. Please don't take me back, Jonathon. I'll tell you. I'll tell you, just don't take me back. Please," she stated weakly, her voice shaking from crying. They stopped moving immediately. She heard Crane sigh, the sound of relief hitting her ears like knives. The voices stopped their whispering. Nirvana felt her body being lifted and Crane held her close to his chest. She cried more as he spoke in her ear, "Let's get you cleaned up then you can tell me everything," he stated. He held her tightly as she cried in his chest as he carried her. They were heading away from the basement. It was finally over for both of them. Crane couldn't believe how long it had taken. But he had never been more relieved.

" _He'll die by your hand_ " the final voice echoed in her ears and her tears slowed at thought.

He would die by her hand.

...

 **Whoooooooo. I know this was kind of a long chapter, hopefully you guys like it! Let me know what you thought and what you'd like to see moving forward!**


	18. Chapter 17

Instead of heading towards the showers first, he took her by her room and quietly laid her on her mattress sitting on the ground. He quickly left and shut the door quietly. She wanted to look after him but her body ached in ways she couldn't explain so she laid utterly still, closing her eyes as she rested on her pillow. He was gone for a while, long enough to where Nirvana drifted into her first dreamless slumber since he had taken her to the basement. There was a stillness to the room that she had missed.

Maybe an hour or two later, Crane came back into the room to see the dozing doll. He quietly kneeled down and picked her up again. He knew she could probably walk, but his guilt had quickly caught up to him now that it was all finally over. He had lost himself in the pursuit of what he had wanted. He wasn't proud of his actions but couldn't argue with the outcome he supposed. He carried up another flight of stairs to the old hydrotherapy room. The room was lined with broken porcelain bath tub lining each side but in the back was one tub that was still intact. He had taken time to fill it already with warm water. Next to that was a chair that had her shampoo, conditioner, hair brush, body wash, clean clothes, soft towels, everything she would need to hopefully feel clean once again. Crane very carefully put her down on her feet, keeping an arm around her waist to make sure she was steady before taking a large inhale and let it out in a large sigh.

He detached himself emotionally as he helped her get undressed. He removed her shirt as she lifted her arms above her head. Then unclipped her bra and having her shrug it off. He did his best note to touch her flesh, not wanting to push her boundaries or cause her anymore uncomfort. She shimmied off the leggings she wore and grabbed Crane's hand to keep herself steady as she kicked off each leg and he took his foot and kicked the clothing out of the way. He kept hold of her hand as she got herself into the tub. He kept his eyes from her frame as she lowered herself into the hot water. She released his hand as she sat in the water. He picked the stuff off the chair and pulled the chair so that he was sitting behind where her head rested. He wasn't surprised when she fully submerged herself under the water. She stayed under for a long time and he had a quick moment of panic where he thought she was trying to drown herself but it wasn't too long before she came back to the surface. When she did, she pulled up her knees and laid her head on them as she took a moment to herself. Jon's eyes traveled up her back, seeing her spine showing through her skin. Seeing her in good light made his skin crawl. She had been degrading right under his nose. She leaned back and dipped her long black hair into the water. She was about to look back at Crane to ask for the shampoo when his thin hand touched her shoulder and added a small amount of pressure and leaned back.

Jonathon squeezed a large amount of shampoo into his hands then scrubbed the soap into her long black hair. His fingers massaged the shampoo into her scalp before carefully running the through the rest of her hair. He took his time with this to make sure he got out as much dirt out of her tresses on the first try. They had remained completely silent between each other until he had stated one word in a quiet tone.

"Rinse."

She responded by fully submerging her head again and raking her fingers through her hair and getting all the soap she could out before resurfacing to feel Crane's hands back in her hair for another wash cycle. He focused on the back of her neck and behind her ears, making sure to get all the baby hairs he could before telling her to rinse again. She did so and when she came back up, Crane explained to pull out the plug so they could drain the dirty water and put fresh in. She nodded, and did so.

She laid her head back against the edge of the tub as she waited for the water to drain. She tried to think of what to say. There really wasn't much too say, she supposed. But she wasn't out of the woods yet. She was going out of the pan back into the fire. She kept her gaze away from him as she decided to ask the most obvious question in her mind.

"How long was I in that chair, Jon?"

"We were down there for a little over 7 months," he answered honestly, "It just passed the 4th of July."

She remained silent as that sunk in. Seven months?

"Luckily, with you getting up every few hours and going to the bathroom, I was able to keep your joints and muscles from degrading too much. But it's going to take a little while for your strength to come back to you."

As the last of the first batch of water cycled down the drain, she moved forward and plugged the drain again and turned the faucet back on to fill it back up. Seven months? People probably weren't even looking for her anymore. She was just another forgotten name lost in Gotham. They say again in silence as they both watched the water fill up before Crane began to work the conditioner into her hair.

She wondered where this kindness was coming from. Was he trying to atone for his sins? Make it up to for it? She shook the thought out of her head when she heard him tell her to rinse and she did so quickly. She came back up and Crane handed her the body wash for her to do on her own. As she did so, she was able to take her body in for the first time. Her legs had scattered puncture wounds, small holes littered her thighs. Her skin was so pale she wondered if she could be in direct sunlight ever again? As she washed her arms, she looked closely at her wrists, where her blood looked almost black against her pale skin. Tears came to her eyes again but she stayed silent. She probably looked like a monster. She leaned forward and emptied the tub again, waited for it to clear before filling it again. Then Crane handed her a razor and she was suddenly very thankful to him. She used the body wash as a makeshift shaving cream and shaved herself carefully. The feeling felt almost normal. As if Jonathan and her were lovers, sharing alone time in the bathroom. Quiet and comfortable. That feeling quickly left her as he tapped her shoulder for the blade back immediately after she finished. She emptied the tub once again and filled it back up. She then just rested in the water. Crane didn't say anything for a while and neither did she. She didn't want to get out yet, but she worried that he would make her. So she spoke quietly to him, using what he wanted against him one last time before she lost it forever.

"On Halloween night, I had seen a terrible thunderstorm. I have a fear of lightning and thunder, and I saw myself wrapped up in the clouds. It was so loud. So mean," she stated, her voice very quiet. Jonathon closed his eyes as she told him. He tried to imagine it. She told him everything slowly and clearly. Every last detail she could as she emptied and refilled the tub multiple times. Jonathon stayed silent the entire time. His eyes remained closed as he relished his victory. He had won this. They sat there for a couple hours as Nirvana explained it all. He had finally gotten what he wanted. But one last question came to his mind and he asked it as he stood from his chair. "When I asked you what you were seeing and you told me you didn't know, do you remember what it looked like?" He opened the towel so that she could get out and dry off. She grimaced as she lifted herself from the water as she answered his question.

"It was two blue flames just floating in the darkness. They looked like eyes. I figured it out it was just your eyes I was seeing a long time ago," she explained as she had the towel thrown over her shoulders. Crane looked away from her as she began to dry off. He crossed his arms over his chest as he thought of what she said. Two blue flames to signify him. Did that mean that she, the powerful and respected Doctor Nelson, fear him? He felt a small tug pull at his lips but when he heard the towel drop to the ground. He heard Nirvana move to her clothes and the rustling of her struggling to pull them on but he made no move to help her. Not until she asked for it that is. But silence was all she gave him until he heard her sit in the chair and the sound of the ripping as the towel was pulled through her hair. He knew it was probably horribly knotted. He turned back and leaned against the rim of the tub. She somehow resonated the aura of her old self, something he hadn't seen in a while.

"So," she spoke gently and Crane looked at her orange eyes, "What do we do know?"

He lowered his eyes as he thought a good answer for her, but instead honesty came from him, "I don't know."

Nirvana nodded and stood from the chair, her legs still weak but atleast were able to take her to Crane, standing in front of him. Jonathon looked down at her with a blank face, cold eyes. She held his gaze for a moment, reading him, before she shook her head and moved away from him.

"You're never going to let me leave," she stated in a tone so matter-of-factly, it cut Crane straight to his core. He took his hand and pushed his hair out of his face. He watched as Nirvana shuffled out of the room and slowly followed her.

...

Nirvana didn't remember getting to her room, but she had woken up in her bed. Her eyes had to adjust to her surroundings, the only thing lighting the room was the moon. Crane slept soundly in the corner of the room closest to her bed. His breathing was slow and soft. Her eyes danced for a moment as darkness swirled around her before the darkness formed into figures that stood at the edges in the shadows. She laid back down and closed her eyes as the figures stepped in closer. She wondered if she would always see them now.

Maybe it'll make it less lonely when she was left there to die. She knew deep in her stomach that this was going to be her final resting place. Her eyes looked back over at Crane resting on the wall, his breathing still steady though he curled himself up a little. She thought about what the hallucinations had said earlier. Would she really be able to kill him? Not like this she couldn't. With that thought in her mind as she laid back down, her eyes closing as the thought of killing him was enough to lull her to sleep as the hallucinations surrounded her inside her mind.


	19. Chapter 18

Crane had awaken to the sound of rustling and a soft sigh. He didn't move but his glacier eyes sliding open subtly as he looked around the room. He saw Nirvana, her back to him, sitting on the ground. The soft blue light of early morning filled the room and her pale skin seemed to hold the pigment under her flesh. Her skin was bare, her shirt folded neatly and laid on the bed. She wore only her bra though that wasn't what had really made Crane opened his eyes a little more. Her black hair, which usually covered her neck and shoulders was tied into itself in a messy knot. Crane let his eyes wonder her flesh, crawling from her hairline down her spine. He watched as she stretched her arms above her head, hearing her breath out slowly, knowing her joints probably hurt. She held one arm in front of her and it took a while before Crane saw that she was stretching as if she was getting ready to exercise. He moved his body very carefully and quietly as to not draw attention to himself and crossed his arms over his chest as he continued to watch her.

Nirvana kept her eyes closed as she tried to focus on the pain rippling through her muscles as she stretched and not at the growing hunger in her mind. She had a craving, an itch in her veins. She kept her mind off it as much as she could but this need had awaken her from slumber. Was she going to have to go through withdrawals on top of everything else? She lowered her arms and pulled her legs in and placed her feet arch to arch and did a butterfly stretch, leaning down as she held her toes.

Crane continued to watch in silence. He wondered if he should go get her something to eat. If she was going to be stressing her muscles, she should atleast have some protein. He looked at his watch to check the time and saw it was only 6am. He saw her sit back up before she moved one leg out and stretching that way. He unfolded his arms and stood very quietly. He moved to the door and stepped out in a large step and shut the door behind him. Nirvana sat back up and looked at the door and then the corner where Crane had been. She shook her head before going back to stretching. A few minutes later she heard her music come on over the radio. She couldn't help but smile gently and kept on stretching.

...

Crane had a fer large grocery bags in one hand and jug of water in the other. In the bags were random items of food, bread and meat, fruit and veggies. He wasn't sure what she'd be in the mood for. But whatever she didn't want, he'd eat happily. He looked forward to going back for a full days work that day. To focus on something other than Nirvana in the basement. He began his walk down the hallway towards her room when he heard shuffling around. He quieted his steps as he approached, listening very closely before he heard her music thump through the floor. It was just a simple guitar rift that sounded... blusey? Country? Southern Jazzy? He couldn't decide but soon he heard the shuffling again and a soft laugh. And then Nirvana's weak but still beautiful singing voice resonate through his ears. Her clapping hands.

"Came into this world,

Daddy's little girl.

And daddy made a soldier out of me.

Daddy made me dance.

And daddy held my hand.

And daddy liked his whisky with his tea."

Jonathan looked through the peep hole silently and saw Nirvana smiling brightly as she pretended to dance with someone. She sang the lyrics happily as if she felt it with every nerve of her body and Crane just watched in awe. She didn't notice him. Her eyes sincerely seemed to seeing something and Crane investigated though a smirk on his lips as she kept singing.

"He held me in his arms.

And he taught me to be strong.

He told me when he's gone,

Here's what you do.

When trouble comes to town,

And men like me come around.

Oh, my daddy said shoot,

Oh, my daddy said shoot."

When she stopped dancing she clapped her hands to the beat and twirled around, Crane was surprised she remained steady on her two skinny legs. He made the quick decision not to ruin her moment of happiness and very quietly pushed the groceries under the door and moved away, his smirk still playing at his lips. He walked back down the hallway, planning on returning to his home for his own deserved shower and a fresh change of clothes.

...

Nirvana's lips held her smile as she looked around her room, fire consuming the walls. The flames liked her legs. The black figures took their turn dancing with her, romancing her in their own ways as the music rang through her ears. Under her pillow was the uncapped needle and the bottle of fear toxin. She would have to remember that when Crane slept, he was a very heavy sleeper, he didn't even feel her reach into his coat pocket.

She fire felt hot but she couldn't help but celebrate the relief of the pain that had built up in her veins. The hallucinations sang with her, flickering in and out of the flames. The blue flames came out of the smoke and joined her in the middle of the fire pit, gaining a smokey figure with it. The figure looked familiar of course, but Nirvana didn't care, the primal urge for joy filling her chest. She allowed the figure to wrap it's hand around her waist and pull her close as she sang the last lyrics of the song.

"My daddy warned me about men like you,

He said baby girl he's playing you,

He's playing you.

Cause when trouble comes in town,

And men like me come around.

Oh, my daddy said shoot,

Oh, my daddy said shoot."

As the song began to end, the smoke clouded the whole area and the hallucinations began to disappear and before the blackness began to take her vision completely, the last thing she saw was the blue flames growing larger, as if getting closer before she lost everything to the darkness.

...

Nirvana woke, having curled herself on her bed. She looked around the room to see the hallucinations pointing to the food on the ground. She groaned as her body shook awake and she realized she was still smiling. She grabbed the bags and pulled them towards her and ate quietly but still eating very greedily. This was the first real meal she had had in 7 months and it tasted better than anything she could have dreamed. She opened the jug of water and drank it happily.

She finished the whole bag save for the protein bars which she decided to save for morning snacks while she focused on gaining back her strength. After she finished, she laid down on her bed as a new song started and she couldn't help but give a small chuckle as she saw the hallucinations swayed their heads to the beat and she herself tapped her foot to the beat.

...

Jonathon walked back into Arkham with his head held high, his face clean and fresh, his clothes pressed and he looked ready for work. He greeted a few nurses with a small smile before turning the corner and heading to his office. He opened the office door to see Officer Gordon inside once again. He was caught off guard and was slightly startled.

"I've apparently need to get a lock on my door. Good morning Officer Gordon, how are you doing?" Crane stated with slight agitation as he moved to his desk and set his briefcase on it. Gordon didn't say anything, just tossed an evidence bag onto the good doctor's desk. Crane looked down at it for a moment. His eyes narrowed and he looked at Gordon with deathly icy eyes.

In the bag was a shard of glass but on the inside of the glass was a bright orange powder.

((MUSIC CREDIT: "Daddy Lessons" by Beyonce from Lemonade.

And for fun the song that played after Nirvana was eating in my mind was "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel because it's been stuck in my head all day.

Leave feedback and love. And stay turned to see how Crane will deal with Gordon))


	20. Chapter 19

((Sorry about the long delay between chapters guys! I HOPE YOU ENJOY. LEAVE FEEDBACK!))

Crane sat behind his desk with his fingers clasped together with his hands on his lap. Gordon had remained standing, his dark tired eyes seemed on edge as he stood in Crane's office. Gordon talked slowly and carefully, speaking about how he had been working on this case for almost a year. That Nirvana was still missing and not many leads had come into play. Between the rise and quick fall of the new District Attorney and Joker and Riddler becoming more and more of an issue, Gordon had to push the Halloween case behind everything else. He had recently revisited this case and taken a fresh look at the evidence and it had lead him back to Crane's office.

Crane had carefully picked up the evidence bag and turned it over in his fingers a few times as Gordon paused in his speech. His mind reeled but he remained his face was calm, almost stone like. He inspected the broken bottle inside before opening the bag and taking a gentle whiff.

"Dr. Crane, I believe you have minor in biochemistry, correct?"

"Yes I do. So I can understand why you came back to me," Crane answered truthfully, leaning forward in his chair and setting the bag gently in front of Gordon, who nodded and placed a hand over the bag.

"Which is why I need to just ask you a couple more questions about that night," Gordon sat in front of Crane and looked at him dead in the face. Jon returned his gaze with an almost bored expression. "Tell me again what you remember about the incident."

"Chaos, Officer Gordon. Fear and chaos. I had arrived waiting to the Gala hoping to meet a potential business partner but he never showed. Nirvana and I spent some time talking about work while smoking a cigarette before she went in to socialize. I waited a few more moments before deciding the man I was waiting for wasn't going to show. I stepped out of the Wayne Manor and was almost to my car when I heard the first screams. People began to run out of the building covering their ears, scratching out their eyes, biting off their tongues. I got into my car and sped off after that."

"No call to the police?"

"I did so a few hours later. I was shook up from the whole event."

"Tell me more about your relationship with Dr. Nelson."

Crane sighed audibly, taking a thin hand and pinching the bridge of his nose in obvious aggravation but answered, "As I said, her and I were had a very close work relationship but not much else. We were partners in running this damned asylum. We fought constantly but we always resolved our arguments. However outside of work, we had little to no contact with each other."

"So you had no other feelings for her?"

"No, none like what you're thinking, anyway."

"So, you guys were work partners? Constantly by each other's side. Always bouncing ideas off each other," Gordon lead the questioning further and Crane answered with a nod of his head but no words. "So she told you about going after head psychologist of the asylum correct?"

Crane rose a single dark eyebrow, eyes gaining a shining glint in the glacier pools, "Excuse me?"

Gordon nodded knowingly, "I figured she might not have shared that she was going after your job," he reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and threw it on the desk before Crane. Crane made no move to pick it up and just looked at Gordon. "Go ahead, that's her application. I also have a copy of a letter of recommendation from Bruce Wayne. And with his family being a huge backer to the asylum... well, she probably would have gotten the job if she hadn't gone missing."

Jon looked down at the folded up piece of paper but made no move to grab it. He sighed quietly and shook his head, "She had seen how much stress I was under with everything going on. The renovations, the lack of funding, the growing patient numbers. She probably was looking to relieve me of that. She wouldn't have done it out of spite. Nirvana isn't like that."

"You speak so fondly of her, Dr. Crane. Are you sure what you had was only work related?" Gordon questioned smoothly but Crane only pushed the folded paper back towards the detective and stood from his desk.

"I have work to get to, Detective Gordon. So unless you're arresting me, I'd like to wrap this up," he stated firmly, waiting coolly to see what Gordon did. The man stood from his chair and straightened his jacket. He picked up the paper and placed it back into his pocket.

"Don't leave the city, I may need to question you again, Dr. Crane," and with that he stepped out of Jon's office and shut the door behind him. Crane stood completely still, his hand resting on his desk as he breathed in carefully, his heart racing. The evidence was suddenly stacking itself up and he was now a firm suspect. He relaxed himself as much as he could. He straightened up and ran his hands over his jacket. He stepped out of his office and began his work day as normal.

...

However, the work day didn't seem normal. Things at some points were loud. So busy. Joker and Harley were brought back in. Cells rattled with the excitement that the two brought with them. But after they were settled in, things became eerie. Crane couldn't get over the feeling that he was being watched. He would catch the glances of nurses and security. Faces he had never seen before and it seemed like they were always watching him. Always around him. The day went on like this. No solid alone time unless he stepped into the bathroom. His mind was reeling by the time it was for him too leave and bring Nirvana some food. But when his car pulled out of the parking lot, his blue eyes gazed into the review mirror to see a black car following his own. He breathed through his nose deeply settling his rattling heart. He turned to head towards the city. His eyes would shift to the mirror then back to the road. He made his way home instead of the store. He couldn't risk someone following him back to Nirvana's room. His stomach churned at the thought of leaving her without food. After everything he had put her through, food seemed like the bare minimal he could give her. He watched as the car followed him until he pulled into his home. He lived on the outskirts of Gotham, the area wasn't very friendly as far as neighbors were concerned but people avoided his home. It looked regular but almost abandoned. He didn't take the best care of it. He pulled into his driveway and the black car drove past and left the block. He rushed inside and shut the door with a sharp snap. He exhaled loudly as he leaned his forehead against the door. Was he being paranoid? Was he acting out of his own fear? He couldn't be quite sure, but with the dutiful detective pulling at strings, he couldn't be too reckless. He set down his briefcase gently and pulled of his suit jacket and tie. He felt paranoia itching at him again and forced himself not to look out the blinds. Not yet atleast. He'd wait till he went down into his basement and checked the cameras he had set up.

His mind reeled quietly as he sat on his couch and he placed his hands over his face as he stretched his long legs onto the coffee table. He breathed in and out deeply, trying to concentrate. To focus. He thought about Nirvana. He hoped she saved some food for herself. Even just the protein bars would be enough to fill her up for a night at least. But she was probably so hunger she ate it all throughout the day. His own stomach growled in response. He should make himself fast to feel what she feels, he thought bitterly. He hated leaving her alone. He looked at his briefcase and pulled it over to him. Opening it, he pulled his laptop out and set it on his lap. When he opened it, the video screens lit up and he saw Nirvana standing at the door, talking to someone outside. The cameras couldn't catch the person standing on the other side but his heart beat at a fast hard pace. He turned the mics on in the room and listened to what she was saying, trying to hear a voice.

"-Is he not coming back? What happened?" Nirvana spoke gently as she looked out the door.

"I don't know. I don't smell him anymore," a male voice responded and it didn't take long for Crane to recognize the voice. Waylon Jones. Killer Croc. He wanted to stand up and scream into the mic to get away, to run. However he listened silence.

"Waylon please just get me out. I don't care if you kill me, or eat me or whatever. But I've got to get out. I'm going crazy," Nirvana spoke quietly, her head resting against the door.

"Joker said ain't no one allowed to even touch this door," his gruff voice answered her plea. She sighed, somehow already knowing that would be the answer.

"How did you find me?"

"I could smell you through the walls. I recognized it, but I couldn't quite figure out who it was," he answered, an inner city drawl to his voice, "I followed it and it lead me here."

"Well thanks for stopping by and saying hi," she answered sarcastically.

"Has he been feeding you?" The monster continued.

"Yes he'll drop by food every now and again. Sometimes though, like tonight, he just doesn't come back," she answered truthfully. Jon's heart sank for a moment.

"Has he been giving you that, that drug of his?"

"Yes. He's got me messed up, Waylon. Drugged me for months. If you could see me now... God I must look like a monster," she stated weakly, fighting back tears suddenly.

"You can't look any worse than me right?"

Nirvana chuckled and shook her head, "I'd give you a run for your money, Jones. That much is for sure."

"But, I can't even function without that shit now. I've been seeing things, hallucinations. They won't go away," she continued with a sigh.

"He was 'helping me' get over my fear. He pumped so much of that orange shit in me it's stuck there now," Croc responded gruffly, "It's in my mouth now. Whenever I chomp, people start seeing things too."

"Well if I ever need a hit, you'll be the first I call," Nirvana said sarcastically again and she heard Croc admit something that could described as laughter from hell itself. Deep and guteral. Frightening if Nirvana hadn't already been to hell itself.

"Stay strong doc. Only a little while now. Joker won't let you stay in there forever," Croc stated before she heard his thunderous footsteps leave the door. She moved back over to her bed where the protein bars sat and Jon saw she had over half of what he gave her that morning. She'd be fine. He sat back into his couch as he watched her quietly. He let her words sink in. Was she addicted to his serum? Seeing hallucinations, hearing things? It wouldn't be the first. But he expected more will power from her.

...

He briefcase was heavy that day. Between his lap top and several bottles of tightly packed fear gas inside, it weighed down his hand. But he needed to keep it around just in case. It wouldn't leaving his hand all day. He wondered to his office, his eyes looking at the ground. He hadn't gotten much sleep. He had just watched Nirvana all night, in her silence, in her grace. She sometimes mumbled to herself as she doodled in her book. She was falling back into her routine she had before he had her hidden away in the basement. Sometimes she would look at the wall absently. Sometimes she would speak more directly but not about anything in particular. Broken sentences. Lost in her own world. A world of his creation. His world just for her. He couldn't help but romanticize that in his head. He had made that for her. Him and only him. He'd like to see some other Joe from the streets do that for her.

He couldn't help the smirk on his face as he thought about it but it quickly fell as he came upon his office, the door wide open and noises coming from inside. He looked inside to see police officers tearing apart his book shelves. Detective Gordon stood near the door and held out a blue sheet of paper towards Jon as he walked up to his office door.

"Search warrant, Dr. Crane," Gordon stated as he took a step towards Crane's desk and began opening the drawers.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Crane snapped, throwing the warrant to the ground as he took a step into his office. He watched Gordon opening each drawer and digging through each carefully before opening the bottom right drawer and Gordon only looked down, not touching anything for a moment before grabbing a handful of needles and in the other hand a bottle of his fear serum, swirling and orange. All eyes suddenly turned to Crane but it was too late, his hand was inside his briefcase with three bottles of the fear gas in his hand and he swiftly threw it into his office and the sound of shattering glass echoed down the hall. Orange and red gas filled the room. Some of the officers began coughing immediately while others took their uniform shirts and covered their faces, Detective Gordon being one of them. Crane suddenly turned on his heel and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He ran faster than he ever did from his high school bullies. Faster than he ever ran from his grandmother. He pushed and shoved people out of the way, causing a scramble as the officers followed him. He exited out of the asylum main doors, heading toward the abandoned building where Nirvana sat inside. His mind reeled. What was he going to do? What the hell was he going to do? He had no solid plan. He had no real idea of what this would become.

He scrambled through the front door of the abandoned building and ran up the stairs, hearing footsteps on the pathway coming towards him. He took the stairs two at a time and ran towards her room. He should just let her go, let her get better. He found out what he wanted. He knew what she feared.

But the hallucinations, what did she see? He couldn't let her share that with anyone else but him. She couldn't be with anyone else but him. No one but him, he came to her door. He heard them coming up the stairs behind him. He opened the door, went inside, and shut it loudly.

Nirvana looked up from her journal to see the sweaty faced Jonathon taking deep breathes as he threw his briefcase down and opened it quickly. He looked at her over his shoulder and before she could say anything, he was upon her. His hand wrapped tightly around her throat while his leg held down her arm.

Nirvana's legs jerked and scrambled as she tried to break free of his grasp but soon she felt the familiar pin prick of a needle going into her arm and felt the warmth of serum going into her.

"J-Jonathon!" She gasped loudly, "Wait stop, Jonathon, p-please!"

"Shush shush shush, Dr. Nelson," Crane stated harshly as another pin prick went into her arm, more serum. The warmth turned to ice as her body fell into the abyss but she tried to keep her mind clear. Why was he doing this? Why was he acting this way? She subtly heard banging on the door and heard his name being called. "J-Jon. Jon, please. Please Jon, don't do this," she pleaded, tears streaming from her eyes as she realized what he was trying to do as more serum went into her arm. He was trying to induce an overdose.

More and more, he put into her. Her body convulsed and Crane watched as her veins turned aglow with orange and black, her pupil dilating to take up her entire eye. He got off of her and began injecting the serum into his own blood. He kept his mind as long as he could, his body beginning to shake as he grabbed Nirvana's compulsion body and brought it with him as he grabbed his briefcase. He threw the rest of the bottles on the floor, fear gas surrounding them just as the door to the room opened. Crane's mind was snapping, he felt the crack run deep in his brain as he pulled out a large knife from the briefcase, holding it up to Nirvana's throat.

"Dr. Crane," one of the officers stated loudly, keeping their distance as they looked at the scene before them.

"Crane?" Jonathan asked curiously as his hand on the knife as he held Nirvana close, "There's no Crane here... only Scarecrow," he added darkly as he turned his head so that his nose and mouth was buried into Nirvana's hair so only crystal eyes stared out through the orange fog before disturbing laughter echoed around the room. Scarecrow tightened his grip around Nirvana, pulling her as close to him as possible.

"Try to take her away from me, and you'll see what real fear is," he spat viciously, causing Gordon and everyone to take a step back in caution.

Nirvana's eyes opened and she looked out at the people in the door way and screamed. Just screamed. They looked horrifying, dark dripping masses of blue and black tar. She buried her face into Scarecrow's chest, causing Jonathon to hold the against her face as if to shield her but still looked menacing. Crazy.

Completely unhinged.

((There's a line from Arkham Asylum in here, 10 points if you know what it is! Hope you enjoyed! I'll be uploading the next chapter soon!))


	21. Chapter 20

Gordon and several cops stood outside the door of Nirvana's room while Scarecrow held the trembling woman in his arms, keeping tearing eyes on the cops ahead of him. While he was trying to keep his focus in the situation at hand, he was having to desperately claw at reality to keep himself awake enough to not lose himself to the nightmare brewing behind his eyes. Nirvana was still cradled in his arms and the knife was still pressed menacingly against her cheek.

Nirvana shook and convulsed at some points as her brain tossed and threw her from one nightmare world to another. Her shadow figures would chase after her and reach for her hand, but each time they were close, she was pulled away from them. Scarecrow's shirt was soaked from tears and sweat. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she clung to the little piece of the real world she could feel. Better to face the evil you know than the evil you don't.

Detective Gordon struggled with the scene before him. Two people, one drugged beyond all comprehension while the other only barely clung to sanity. He looked at Nirvana with distressed eyes. From all her pictures and physical descriptions he had collected regarding her, seeing her this way made him sad at what one year could really do to someone. He told the officers present to keep the scene calm while he made a call. The officers nodded and spoke to both in soothing voices.

"Nirvana, everything will be okay. Just hold on for us," one female stated calmly, causing Nirvana's black eyes to turn to the woman, the veins in her face glowing orange and black, skin pale as a shit. Nirvana had a look of pure terror capture her facial expression and she curled back into Jon. He turned his eyes to the female cop, a sick grin spread across his lips.

"Tell me, Officer, what is it you fear?" Scarecrow asked darkly, icy blue eyes stared down the woman. No answer came at first and Scarecrow yelled the question again, his hand tightening on the knife. "What is it you fear?!"

The woman flinched at his raised voice and answered quickly, "Snakes. I hate snakes."

"I didn't ask you what you hated, I asked you what you feared," he retorted.

"I fear snakes. Their skin and their eyes, they freak me out," she replied, but Scarecrow simply rolled his eyes and tsked in her direction.

"Liar."

...

"Get down her as soon as you can and bring an ambulance. We have a woman here in critical condition and needing medical attention quick-"

"Jim," a voice came from behind Detective Gordon causing him to jump almost 10 feet out of his skin, turning to see the familiar cowl of masked vigilant, Batman. Gordon clutched his chest before taking a deep breath.

"You can't scare an old man like me like that," he stated bitterly before speaking, "we've got a hostage situation in there. Dr. Jonathon Crane has Nirvana Nels-"

"Dr. Nirvana Nelson," Batman corrected, beginning to walk towards the building.

"Yes, Dr. Nirvana Nelson. We believe he drugged her. She's completely incoherent. He has a knife held to her throat," Gordon continued, following Batman with quick steps.

"Any windows available?"

"No just one door, and he has her against the back wall. He is on something as well. Calls himself Scarecrow," Gordon explained as they began to take the stairs back up to the room.

...

"Nirvana, what do you see?" Crane whispered, curious what dying this way must look like. Nirvana curled into herself as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. He kept his eyes focused on the cops ahead of him but his ears perked up when he heard her voice speaking into his chest but he couldn't hear her words clearly. He took the hand that was holding her close to him by her waist and lifted it to her chin and tilted up her head so her black eyes were staring at what he could only assume was him. "One more time Nirvana, what do you see?"

Her words escaped her as more tears ran down her pale cheeks. He held the sharp side of the blade against her skin but he tilted his forehead down to press against hers and spoke tenderly, "We only have one more session Nirvana. Tell me and I can make it all go away," he stated sweetly, uncharacteristically so. The cops watched on as the watched Nirvana's tremors soften to light shaking. She closed her eyes as she searched for herself in the darkness. The chaos that tore her psyche apart. Fire, thunder, lightning, ice cold waters. The hallucinations came in and out of focus, speaking words of encouragement, praise.

"You've done so well."

"We are so proud of you."

"So strong."

"So beautiful."

The long clawed hand reached to her and cupped her face, wiping the tears away gently. Crane's voice came to her ears again.

"Tell me what you see, Nirvana. I can make it all go away, just tell me," Jon repeated, his voice still sweet but stern now. The cops watched on in silence. Gordon and Batman stood to the side, the Batman hidden out of view.

Nirvana saw a flash of Crane come into view and she couldn't help but smile. Taking the last amount of strength she had, she lifted her hand and cupped his cheek.

"Burn in hell, Jon," she hissed through clenched teeth and he looked at her through wide angry eyes as he raised the knife up ready to impale it through her chest but something came whistling through the air and hit Scarecrow's hand quick as lightning, hitting the knife from his hand. Nirvana quickly moved to crawl away. Her hallucinations all reached for her. Taking her hands and pulling her away from Crane who quickly scrambled after her, fury in his eyes. However instead of grabbing Nirvana's foot, he grabbed a large black boot. Crane's glowing blue eyes looked up to see something horrifying. A large bat, menancing, terrifying. Crane quickly scrambled back, looking as cops pulled Nirvana out of the room.

"No," Scarecrow stated loudly, "No, no, no, NO. NO! She's mine! I made her! She's mine, don't take her from me!" He was going to keep screaming until a large hand was picking him up by his shirt and lifting him into the air. Crane looked down to see the horrifying bat up close and personal. It was then that he suddenly lost grip on reality. His nightmare came crashing down around him. He was too scared to speak.

"Tell me, Scarecow. Are you scared?" The large man bat asked Jon. He shook terrified, his head shaking quickly as he refused to speak.

...

Nirvana had gotten out into the hallway and immediately began to convulse, orange foam emitting from her mouth as she seized violently. What she heard was a blur of sound, she felt footsteps thundering towards her and her body being lifted. She saw Crane in handcuffs, tossing and turning and kicking as he tried to chase after her being taken away. Fires still danced around behind her black eyes. She felt a hand reach out for him but someone quickly came next to her and grasped it. Telling her to hold on.

Her eyes fluttered closed as her body was raked with another violent set of seizures and after that she passed out. Not remembering anything except the voices in her head, speaking to her in the darkness.

 _"We're so proud of you."_

 _"You did it."_

 _You're out_."


	22. Chapter 21

((Sorry for the wait!))

The shining florescent lights above her hurt here eyes when they first opened. Her body was tired and rattled weakly when she took a deep breath in her lungs. The smell of medicine filled her nose. Where was she? She turned her head and groaned quietly and she heard a rustling as if someone was right next to her. She opened her eyes again looking and seeing one nurse who was surprised she was awake. So she was in a hospital? She cleared her throat and spoke softly, "Morphine, please. My body hurts so bad," Nirvana choked out.

"Of course, I'll ask the doctor," the nurse spoke quickly and moved out of the room in a flash. She braced her arms to lift herself up, grimacing the entire time till her back rested against the pillows. Her eyes fell on another person in the room. A man she didn't know who was looking at her as if she was a bomb about to go off. He was older, greyed. A police officer? She wasn't sure.

"Can you... can you turn the lights off? I don't want people to see me like this," she whispered as she rested her head against the back wall. The man nodded silently and moved to the wall and flipped off the light switch so the light coming from the window and the hallway still illuminated everything but not as harshly as the white light above them. Nirvana thanked the man and looked around the room, getting a grasp of reality.

"How long have I been out?" She asked curiously, looking back at the man.

"3 hours, maybe 4," he stated honestly as he moved to a chair and pulled it up next to her hospital bed.

"4... 4 hours?" She stated in disbelief. "That much... he put so much... I should be dead," she stated, closing her eyes as she tried to remember all the events leading up that day.

"Well there were a couple close calls, but... here you are," he explained quietly as he looked at her. Nirvana looked at him and then back out at the room. Hallucinations merely clung to the corners of her vision. She bit her bottom lip as she tried to take it all in. She looked down at her wrists. Blood still black in the veins but the orange had disappeared.

"I want to see myself, help me to the mirror," she asked firmly, already moving to get up from the bed.

"Dr. Nelson I don't think that's a good id-"

"I haven't really seen myself in a year, sir. I'll go by myself," she stated as she continued out of bed till she felt a pain shoot up her arm. She looked down at her arm and saw IV needles snuggly inside. She shook her head and quickly pulled them out, grimacing at the pain but she wouldn't. She wouldn't have anymore needles inside her. Not that day. The man stared at her in shock as she pulled each one out and set them on the bed. She scrambled out of the bed, using the man as a brace at first but he grabbed her arm and shared her weight as she was lead to the bathroom. He stood her in front of the mirror and she breathed deeply, scared, terrified of what she was going to see in herself. He flipped the light switch on and she saw herself. Really saw herself for the first time in months. Her breath caught in her throat as a hand raised to her face. Her once green eyes shone orange in the light. Her skin was no longer olive just pale as a sheet. Her body was thin. Sickly thin, with little muscle definition. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she gripped the sink, looking away from her reflection.

"Let's get you back in bed, Dr. Nelson," the man stated gently, placing a soft hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off, keeping her eyes on the sink.

"I knew I looked like a monster," she stated simply, her running a tongue over her lips as she felt rage bubble in her chest. "Crane must be here too. He took almost as much as I did," she questioned darkly.

"No, he's not here. He's at Arkham, coming down. He wasn't as bad shape as you. We thought we'd keep that monster away for good," he explained dryly.

"I wasn't the first you know. He's experimented on patients before. Apparently a lot of them died," she spoke bitterly, pulling out Crane's words in her head from the first night she was there, "A lot of maximum security inmates knew about him. He works with Joker too. Riddler. All of them," she explained.

"We'll get him to tell us everything," the man stated firmly and Nirvana answered with a dark chuckle.

"No you won't. He won't say a word."

...

Gordon watched the young woman go through so many emotions at once. Her energy was dark, scary almost. She had a rage in her that he couldn't even hold against her. After some more talking, she asked to be taken down to the cafe and he had a nurse take her down, stating he'd pay for whatever she ate. Those startling orange eyes looked at him as she was wheeled away, something unsettling sat there. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge as she was pushed out of view.

He called the precinct and ordered watches on Dr. Nelson at all times, never leaving her side. He also ordered clothing for her. Her clothes would be in an evidence bag in the police station. With that, he followed the nurses trail down to the cafe, planning on asking Nirvana a few questions before he left her. He heard whispers of the woman with raven hair and glowing eyes and he prayed that they would learn to keep their mouths shut while she was around.

For their sakes.

...

The nurse spoke to Nirvana in nice tones. Not overly sweet as if she were a kicked puppy but also not with dry tones. They made pleasant conversation as Nirvana ate more food then either thought she could pack in her. Nirvana was thankful for the woman's company. She felt eyes on her and she felt extremely exposed. But with one curt look from the older woman, eyes turned away from them. They didn't talk about anything having to do with what happened to her. The woman showed Nirvana pictures of her cildren and dogs. Let Nirvana watch videos on YouTube, innocence. Sweet intentions. Nirvana was so grateful soon that tears fell from her eyes and stained her cheeks. The nurse was concerned at first but realized these were tears of joy and didn't bring it up again.

Soon, the man from her room was sitting down with them and Nirvana looked up from her 4th bag of cheap and second turkey sandwich. The nurse exposed herself to get them cups of coffee and Nirvana put down the chips and looked at the man.

"My name is Detective Jim Gordon, I've been working on your case all these months. I want to ask you just a couple questions before I let you go for the day," he stated politely. Nirvana nodded but didn't say anything, waiting for the questions.

"I know it was a long time ago, but can you tell me what happened that night. Just whatever you remember," he asked.

"I remember everything, Jim. All of it," she answered with a cold tone to her voice. She explained the night in vivid detail, Jim taking every detail into his mind while he watched her speak. She explained the room and Crane's growing affection for his greatest experiment.

"Did he... you know, did he ever..."

"Oh god no. This isn't an obsession built on lust. But on fear," she stated coolly, waving off the accusation. Jim nodded, understanding her and she continued, stringing the detective along, having him hang on every word. He shook his head as he imagined all this woman went through. When she was done talking, she picked up a half of her sandwich and ate it quickly and took a sip of fountain soda and relished in the taste of the bubbles in her mouth. Soon the nurse sat down again, handing each of them a cup of coffee.

"So, do you know what his serum is made out of?" Gordon asked, taking a sip of his coffee. Nirvana had to think about that. She had never seen him make it, nor questioned his methods or ingedients.

"Its an upper. Jitters, heart beating really fast, jumpy. Those kind of things. And obviously a hallucinogen. You can literally feel... everything," she stated, voice getting more quiet as she talked, before looking back down at her chips and eating them silently.

"And Nirvana, how are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you, that we can give you?"

"I want Crane's head on my mantle. I want him dead, not sitting cushy in Arkham. I want this year back... I want my life back. My looks back. I want..." she breathed out in a sigh before finishing, "I want a cheese burger, no pickles, grilled onions with a side of chili fries. I want to not look like a skeleton anymore." Orange eyes stared intently at her bag of chips while Gordon stood from the table.

"I can atleast do that last part for you," Detective Gordon stood from the table with his coffee in hand, "I'll be back in a little while with that burger for you," he moved away from the table and left the nurse and Nirvana by themselves.

"I didn't catch your name ma'am. I'm sorry," Nirvana stated, looking at the older woman with a smile.

"Oh. My name is Meldrid, but everyone just calls me Millie," the nurse stated politely.

"Okay Millie it is. Thank you for everything, I really appreciate it. Do you happen to know what my treatments are going to be?"

"I believe the doctor said something about a nutrition plan to get you back to a healthy weight as well as much needed sunlight. And then physical therapy 3 or 4 times a week because your muscles are extremely weak and we need to get you back to fighting shape," Millie answered with a small smile.

"Good, good, now can I ask... do you mind if I bum a cigarette from you?" Nirvana asked quietly, looking at Millie with big orange eyes, "Just one," she asked, or more so, pleaded the older woman who nodded in an understanding gesture. The two women cleared up all the trash and Millie threw it away before pushing Nirvana outside to the back of the hospital. Both women took a seat on a picnic bench. Nirvana insisted on getting up out of the wheelchair and sitting next to the woman while the watched the sunset. If Nirvana could say one thing about Gotham General, the view of the city was beautiful. Millie pulled out her pack of cigarettes and they shared one after another. Speaking quietly about other things. Things that didn't have to do with her situation. At some points there was silence and they just watched the city move and Nirvana would think to herself about how she had longed for this moment. To feel normal. For now the itching of need for the toxin was at bay. Her stomach felt full and warm. Freedom, is what she felt as the wind picked up and blew her long black hair around her face. Millie had taken to looking at Nirvana at some points but not say anything. However, towards the end of the last cigarette, the older woman turned to Nirvana and spoke carefully.

"You know something, Dr. Nelson? I think you're still very beautiful," Millie stated kindly and Nirvana could tell she was speaking truthfully. Nirvana gave a small smile and nodded.

"Thank you, Millie. I think you're beautiful too," Nirvana said honestly and Millie only nodded and looked back out into the city.

...

They stayed out there for an hour, chit chatting as if they had been friends for years until they saw Detective Gordon turn the corner with a bag of food and a large drink in his hands. Both women greeted him warmly and for a moment, Jim saw a normal woman behind those glowing ember eyes. Millie rolled Nirvana back inside and bid farewell to Gordon as he departed and soon the sun was setting.

Back in her room, Nirvana saw a bag of Morphine sitting on the IV stand and she refused to put anymore needles in her arm. 'Keep that for someone else, I don't want any needles in me for a while,' she had told Millie as she climbed back into her bed, pulling the hot food onto her lap and began digging in. Millie left her then, having to go back to work, doing rounds but she was Nirvana's assigned nurse through the entire process, so she would see the lovely old woman again soon enough. She turned on the TV and flipped it to the news. She had a lot to catch up on.

...

Darkness had rolled across the hallway and Nirvana hadn't been able to fall asleep. She wished she had a book or something to write in. She decided to instead go to the bathroom and take a shower. She was lucky enough to get basically a hospital suite, which Millie had said was a gift from the Wayne family. Maybe Bruce Wayne felt bad that she was taken at his party. Or because she had been a friend of the estate since her high school years. But she didn't question it too much, she had a shower in her room.

Stood under the water for a long time, enjoying the heat and the steam. The fresh smelling soap and shampoo. The lights were turned off in the bathroom while she stood in the dark. And it seemed like the shadow figures she had come to know in behind her eyelids danced but only barely visible. Her skin itched at the thought of it. She'd need her next dose soon. And she wouldn't get it because Crane was stuck in Arkham and she was outside now. And withdrawls would be soon to come. After maybe two hours, she got out of the showet, dried off, and went back into her room. When she looked on the hospital bed, there was a bouquet of yellow roses and a small card.

'Dr. Nelson,

Get Well Soon,

Yours,

B. Wayne,'

She flipped the card over in her fingers and saw a scribble on the back, 'We'll catch up over coffee when you feel better'. She gave a faint smile and picked up the roses and sat down on the bed with the bouquet in her lap. She took one rose from the pile and began to touch the petals on it. It was strange how surreal it felt as she ran her fingers over them. She wondered if everything would feel like this? Soft and fragile. Things had been so hard and coarse in the room she had been in. She pulled off the petals with small tugs and wondered if it would be so easy to lose that fragility. She was a psychologist and she knew she'd be in for some mental torment when the shock of freedom wore off. She picked up on particularly bright petal and swept the rest to the side. She laid down, resting on her side as her fingers danced over the the soft texture as her eyes grew heavy. Could sleep really come this easily? She wondered as her body drifted in and out of conciousness.

...

"Nir... Nirvana... Ni..r...vana," quiet whispers came out of pale lips as dazed blue eyes searched through the darkness. He had screamed her name since she was ripped from his side. Even when he swam through his own nightmares, her face danced along the visions. "Nirvana, Nirvana, Nir... Nirvana," he whispered continuously. When he tried to move his arms, there would be resistance. When he tried to stand, his legs wobbled weakly and he'd fall back to his knees. His back was against the wall, facing the door. But a door to what?

He expected prison bars and loud noises. But even when his whispers died down, it was only cold, empty silence. His head would lull side to side as he tried to regain some sort of composure but he was still heavily drugged. He didn't expect to make it out of the situation alive. He was hoping both him and Nirvana would have died in that room.

"Nirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana," he stated again, a little louder than before, his head still moving side to side, "My little Nirvana. You're in so much trouble my little Nirvana," he finished as he looked up to see a familiar blue eyes look through the window into his room. He smirked to himself as the door was blown off its henges and Harley Quinn stood there with a pink bubble of bubble gum sticking out of her mouth and a detonater in her hands.

"Oh, Johnny, you look like you've had a rough day," she stated after she popped her gum loudly, "Come on, Mr. J is waiting for us," she cooed before walking in and pulling Scarecrow to his feet.

"I've got a stop to make first," he stated, his head still swimming and she pulled him away from the wall to undo the straps of what he assumed was a straight jacket.

That left him in Arkham. What a bunch of idiots.


	23. Update 2!

An update for you guys!

Thank you so much for all your love and all your sweet comments I appreciate my little story getting a little following and without me realizing the story leaped over the 5,000 views point! Oh my gosh! Such wonder, much grateful to you all.

I am going to be working on a chapter update today and this weekend so we will hopefully have a new chapter on Monday! Yay!

Thank you again for the support and being patient with me!


	24. Chapter 22

"Dr. Nelson," the voice spoke in her ear, a voice she should have known she would hear again, but her heart still beat wildly in her chest, her body aching as she turned to answer the voice as her orange hues opened and she suddenly went to yell when a large thin hand clasped over her mouth as blue eyes looked into hers, but there was something unfamiliar about these eyes as they looked into her own, anger and rage filled her stomach and her hands grasped his hand and tore it away.

"Crane, I was hoping you died," she hissed as she sat up in her bed, eyes shooting daggers at him as he stood there as she stood up as if she was ready to fight him with all he said, however he simply tsked, hurt by her words but on his face stayed that sick off-putting gaze that made her lose some of her strength, but she didn't step back or away from him.

"You didn't die either, despite my best efforts," he hissed, looking her up and down, however it seemed he was trying to keep his voice down. "I put double, maybe triple the amount of a lethal dose and yet here you are, surrounded by every Gotham Officer that they could spare with flowers from Bruce Wayne. Good to know you've got secret admirers, Nelson."

"Just one scream and I can get your ass carted back to the asylum and when I get better, I'll go back and make sure you're MY patient and I'll make every last one of your days is as miserable and pathetic like you are," she spat, her eyes staring holes into his as eyes as a smirk decorated his lips as he leaned down to gaze at her, his face dangerously close to hers.

"Who are you gonna scream to?" He stated and as he said this the door to her room burst open. Her eyes left Crane's momentarily to see Joker and Harley standing in the doorway, Harley smiling brightly at Nirvana, giving a small wave while Joker stood there, his same wild sick grin across his lips. In Joker's hand was a knife that dripped blood and Harley's bat hung carelessly in her hand.

"Doc!" Joker stated brightly, but Nirvana turned her eyes back to Jonathan, her smirk on her own lips as she looked him up and down this time.

"You hired the clowns to get me? Pathetic," she hissed as she felt Joker's arm snake around her shoulders and he grinned at her.

"He made me an offer I just couldn't refuse, well before, I couldn't refuse. Now I'm reconsidering," Joker stated with a grin as suddenly Harley snuck behind Jonathan and swung the bat viciously and smacked it in the back of the knees and Crane suddenly yelped, falling to his knees in pain and Nirvana watched on with confusion in her eyes as Harley swaggered so she was in front of Crane and grabbed a handful of his black hair and made him look at Joker.

"We had a deal," he hissed, icy eyes turning to look at Nirvana who made no move to help him.

"Deals changed, crow. Don't worry I'll make sure not to miss up that pretty face of yours," Harley chimed before suddenly hitting him square in the middle of his forehead with a strong smack with the end of her bat and let go of his hair and Crane slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"There we go! No more pests to rain on our little parade!" Joker stated with a grin as he looked at Nirvana again and moved to stand in front of her, Harley coming up from behind and leaned her arm on his shoulder as both looked at Nirvana, who stood strong, seemingly uneffected by their actions and she looked at Crane with steady eyes, his body unmoving.

"Well, I'm guessing this kindness wasn't free, so what do you want?" She stated harshly, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyes raised to look at both of them.

"Oh she's so smart Harley, so smart!" He stated with a grin as Harley laughed, "We don't want much, we just want to help you get that Scarecrow back for all those horrible things he did to you!" Joker explained but the look on Nirvana's showed that she wasn't buying it.

"And what else?" She stated firmly, her eyes rock steady looking at the two of them.

"Oh alright. Jeez this girl I'm telling you Harley, is something else! We have a need for your services this coming Halloween, but you've got to come back to Arkham," he stated with his head tilted to the side.

"You might as well just hear us out, we've only got ten minutes till the rest of the Gotham PD shows up anyway! We have a big Halloween party coming up here in a couple months, and we just need you for appearances. Plus we have someone with a limitless supply of that toxin of the Scarecrow's that we can provide you!" Joker explained with a sick sense of humor in his voice.

Nirvana thought on the last part of his explanation, thinking on what he meant then it came to her head, "Jones."

"Yeah, the big guy's got in his spit!" Harley added then tilted to the side, "plus maybe you'll get some visits from our friends who can bring you presents!"

Nirvana thought about the prospect they offered, sitting back down on her bed as the thoughts raised through her head. What could she really do out in the real world with the way she looked? It would take months, even years of recovery to gain her normal appearance back. She looked sick, like a monster. And the mental damage she had probably taken under Crane's care was enough to make her not seem fit for her passion, her profession. Her eyes travelled to Crane's unconscious body on the ground, his breathing normal but he was out like a light. But the fire was still lit in her stomach of hate she had for him. And he wouldn't just supply her with his fear toxin without taking her again. And she needed it. The stress had brought that itch back, and being his prisoner absolutely could no happen.

"Alright, what do you do?" She asked and Harley looked surprised.

"I didn't think it was gonna be that easy! I thought we were gonna have to knock you out!"

"No I'll do it, but him..." she motioned to Jon on the ground, "He's mine."

"Of course! All you need to do is take Harley's bat and go sit in the middle of the hallway. Getting into Arkham is almost as easy as getting out! Wait for the police to get there, tell them you don't remember doing it or you feel like you're dangerous to society. Put those manipulative doctor techniques to use!" Joker explained, grinning as Harley handed Nirvana the bat and both walked over Jon's body, her eyes following them as the moved to exit the room, Nirvana in tow, her eyes adjusting to the harsh hallway lighting before her eyes took in the body's all over the place, blood everywhere. She took a deep inhale but surprising Harley and Joker, she continued walking in behind them and sat down in the middle of the hallway as they instructed. They walked away with not so much as another word to her and she looked across the bodies on the floor and saw Millie. The sweet old lady had her bashed in and Nirvana sniffed a little bit, sadness hitting her but she reached over to the body and searched the dead nurse's scrubs, grabbing a cigarette and her lighter and lit it for herself. And began her wait for the cops to get there

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Gordon had already been rushing to the hospital with a squad of police cars behind him, heading to Gotham General. Word of Crane's escape had spread fast through the asylum with Joker and his crazy girlfriend not far in tow with him. He wondered how many villains were under this madman's thumb. He prayed he had caught the word fast enough to save Nirvana, spare her the panic of seeing her captor again but as they approached the hospital, people were already being carted away, dead bodies wrapped in black bags and he wondered if one was Dr. Nelson. When his car screeched to a halt and he practically leaped from his seat and out looking at the mayhem that had ensued only hours after he left. As he was about to enter the building two souls were being escorted out, both in handcuffs. Jonathan Crane, walking uneven and dizzy but his face spoke volumes. He subtle smile tugged at his lips, blue eyes on the ground as he was uncuffed and a straight jacket thrown over his body and shoved into the back of a white van with the words Arkham Asylum printed on the side but Gordon's eyes moved away from this as another person followed behind him, long black hair covering her face, blood on her clothes. Her hands were also handcuffed behind her back, her orange eyes lifting to meet the detective's with eyes that were blank, dead behind them. Behind them, a man with a large plastic bag walked out with a bloodied bat inside, the bat screaming the Harley Quinn style. His eyes followed as Nirvana was escorted into the van as well, her eyes staring past everyone she passed on the way and Gordon could see her nervousness to be in the same vehicle as Crane. But he couldn't protest. Words escaped him while the van engine hummed to a start and the began to roll away.

"What happened here?" Gordon asked, in stunned disbelief.

"I guess the girl saw Crane, panicked and went into a murderous rage. Not much we could have done, detective," a CSI worker answering him, his own head shaking. "It's a shame. I thought she would be okay." Gordon just shook his head and walked inside the hospital, hands in his pockets, in silence.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Crane and Nelson sat in the back of the van, Crane still dazed, but that smile sat on his lips as he rested his head against the wall of van. Nelson hadn't been put in a straight jacket, the cop who handcuffed her was fearful of her frail body being hurt with the position the straight jacket put the girl's fragile arms. However, she did her handcuffs firmly on, her eyes staring at the wall of the van, fear brewing in her chest but she hide it well with her apathetic look.

"Nirvana." His voice came like ice travelling down her spine, but she remained calm and unmoving. "Nirvana." The voice came again and she shook her head before fiery orange eyes turned subtly to look at him. Jonathan felt his spine tingle with excitement as she looked at him, her eyes matching her precious serum, a true symbol of his handiwork. He hoped he'd never see those forest green eyes again. As he eyed her up and down, Nirvana couldn't help but take him in as well. He looked the same, facial appearance didn't change and his body looked all the same, but she could have sworn she was looking to a different person, and as he spoke again she felt the unhinged craziness in the air.

"Nirvana, we should talk."

 **Let's take a trip back to Arkham, huh? Also surprise, I got inspired! So it's today not Monday but I'll try to stay inspire and get us at least a couple chapters written!**


	25. Chapter 23

Hey guys, sorry for the long long wait for this chapter. Its been a chaotic year filled with a lot, so I lost a lot of time. I hope to make it up but I won't make any promises yet. Thank you to the loyal fans and I hope I can make up for the lost time 3

"Nirvana, we should talk."

Her body stayed still as stone, but her eyes looked at him. He looked at her with lit blue eyes as if inspecting something he was dissecting. She turned her eyes away and didn't say a word to him. He scooted on his side of the van to catch her eyes again, but she seemed to stare into space again.

"I just want to know how you're feeling taking the credit for a crime you didn't commit?" He asked curiously, looking directly into her face with interest and fascination.

"What did your grandmother do to you?" She countered with a acidic tone and she felt the aura in the van suddenly shift with a hate filling the air.

"That's none of your business," he stated with ice in his tone.

"No, Jon. We don't know boundaries anymore. We don't have secrets anymore. So tell me, what did your grandmother do to you to create such a monster?" She questioned with a steady tone, her eyes turning back to him again.

He fumed under his straight jacket, but answered after a few moments of heated silence. "She was the monster, not me. She was a religious zealot and I was her disgusting bastard grandson. And she put me through hell for what my mother did to hurt her family," he answered with ice filling his own voice as he looked into her orange eyes. They held each other's gaze in silence. "She used to hit me, tell me I was nothing but walking sin. She used to..." He took a moment before continuing, "Whenever I got into trouble she used to put me in an outfit and lock me in the family church. The church was abandoned and invested with crows. The clothes had the very first serum on it, a recipe my great grandmother created to make the crows go into a rage and attack," he finished as he kept her gaze. She stared into his eyes as she calculated what he said and leaned back against the wall of the van. She felt the feeling of pity course through her but she swallowed it back down.

"Joker promised my chance to kill you if I help with his little Halloween party he has planned, I just needed to take the credit for the murder and get thrown back into the asylum."

His eyebrows narrowed at her morbid reasoning but a smirk played on his lips, "You really want to kill me?"

"More than anything, Crane. I want to torture you. Lock you away, decide when you eat, sleep, shit, and shower and take away everything that was important to you and crush it in front of you."

Scarecrow nodded in understanding as he rested his head against the wall of the van as well. He thought about it for a moment, "How are you supposed to get your fix if I'm dead? Waylon won't always be around to get it from. And he's dangerous."

"He's only dangerous if you treat him dangerously."

"He has killed people and eaten them Nirvana," he stated more matter-of-factly. He watched as Nirvana simply nodded and she didn't say a word more. He sat there and watched her as the van suddenly started and began to move along. The two sat in silence for a while before Nirvana spoke.

"Have you ever fallen in love?" She asked gently, her eyes staying away from his as she asked this question. Crane didn't look up from his lap as he answered.

"Yes."

"Who was it?"

"A girl that was back in my hometown. She was a very intelligent young lady and for a long time she was the only person who even acknowledged I existed," Crane answered honestly.

"I don't think I've ever been in love," Nirvana stated gently, "I was always too busy for love."

"I'm surprised. Someone as beautiful as you are, I would have thought many would be looking to be with you." Crane answered honestly.

"You mean as beautiful as I was."

"No," he looked up from his lap finally and looked at her, "Are." She looked at him and rolled her eyes and looked away and they kept silent again. They rode in silence as Crane fidgeted in his straight jacket.

"Never realized how uncomfortable these things were," he stated casually as he wiggled his arms inside the jacket.

"Really? It looks like it was made for you," she stated sarcastically and Crane chuckled gently.

"Yeah I guess you're right," he stated gently as he stopped struggling and relaxed. "Do you think I'll be put in Max?"

"Here's hoping."

"I think mass murder makes you dangerous enough for Max too," he stated matter-of-factly.

"They can't put me in Maximum. I was the head of staff there and the main psychologist. It'll be too risky and they know I'm not a flight risk right now. Unlike you," she stated gently. "I swear you never read your paperwork fully. You're technically supposed to be placed in a different asylum all together because of the conflict of interest. You could possibly be able to trick a nurse who knew you and had a crush on you and then you were able to convince her to let you out. We signed the paperwork when Harleen happened. That was in your terms and conditions you signed." She stated coolly.

"Ah yes, that's right," he stated simply. "That's unfortunate, I'll miss our time together," he finished and the comment hung in the air like lead weight. They stayed in silence before Nirvana tilted her head to the side as she looked at him.

"Our time together? You really are fucking crazy," she spat harshly, "It wasn't some sweet getaway, Crane. It was torture."

"I know that. Crazy I'll deal with but I'm not delusional," he hissed before continuing. "I just... It was nice. Having someone who solely and fully depended on me. Someone I know like the back of my hand now-"

"You don't know me. You don't know anything about me," she hissed but Jon continued.

"I do though. I know the shit some boyfriend would never know. I saw every good, bad, and ugly side of you. You. One of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Strongest woman I've ever known. And I got to... To see you ugly. And weak."

They stayed silent again, and the pieces came together slowly.

"All that... At the end. What was that? Why couldn't you just let me go?" She questioned gently, "Why was killing us your only option?"

He stayed silent as he thought of an answer. He seemed to have a look of confusion pass those pale blues as he tried to figure it out. Nirvana took this time to look away from him, dragging her eyes back to the interior of the van. The ride stayed quiet after this point, him thinking about his hasty decision to end them both. He didn't remember most of it, however he spoke the one thing he did remember. "You're my creation, you're my greatest work, Nirvana. You are an example of everything I can do," Crane spoke genuinely. Nirvana kept her eyes away from him still, eyes seeming to become void of all emotion as his words. "I can't let someone else have you." Nirvana closed her eyes as she heard his words. How did she make it out of that room but still felt captured all the same. She pushed the feeling out of her mind. There were much bigger problems that have still yet to bloom.

This was an Arkham ride she never thought she'd be taking. Even though she couldn't see out the van, the familiar curves leading to the asylum that she at one point had driven every morning and home every night. She could feel Jon shift in his spot, probably feeling the same thing she did, however she kept her eyes closed. When the van stopped, and shuffling of feet moved to the back of the vehicle, both doctors looked at the doors as they opened up. Two men in security outfits grabbed Crane in a tight grip and escorted him out of the van before grabbing Nirvana and dragged her out as well. There were people staring at the two of them, reporters and asylum staff. Of course. Whenever something happened, there were reporters. The two doctors were walked in side by side, raven black hair and pale skin mirroring one another. Nirvana kept her gaze straight ahead, but the orange of her eyes could be noticeable from space it. Crane would look at everything, nodding to some he passed. When a photographer camera flashed brightly, Nirvana still looked straight ahead, but Jonathan was turning his head in that direction. The flash made his icy eyes look to be glowing, paired with her own glinting eyes, she was sure it would be quite the picture.

"Vikki Vale, with the Gotham Gazette, do either of you have any statements?" The blonde reporter that hustled past the crowd asked, tape recorder held tightly in her hand. Jonathon had turned to her, taking in the blonde before turning his eyes. Meanwhile, Nirvana kept her eyes straight ahead no matter the distraction. Soon they were hustled forward and the doors of the asylum snapped shut. Nirvana didn't make a sound as she was moved away from Jonathon with a tug, her needing a new set of clothing and to be taken out of the handcuffs. He looked after the nurses and doctors with narrowed eyes, seeing her slender shoulders and long hair disappear from his view. His eyes lowered to the man who was released him from his straight jacket to dress him in the proper clothing.

Nirvana behaved calmly as she was freed from the cuffs, taking a moment to stretch her arms slowly, not wanting to scare the woman who was helping her change. She undressed behind a curtain, pulling on a clean and uncomfortably stiff pair of scrubs of her body, they were the most horrid shade of orange colors. She never thought she would see that color gracing her flesh. She heard some scrambling from the next side over, not looking surprised at the sounds over a metal table or chair being knocked over. "Guards!" A voice called out and soon there was a shuffle and a thud. Chuckling and a sigh of frustration mixed together before more shuffling.

"You wouldn't happen to have a 'safe' hair tie I can have?" Nirvana asked boredly and the nurse looked at her with surprise but she rummaged in a box and handed Nirvana the hair tie. "Thank you," she said politely. She was escorted from behind the curtain to see Jon being pushed out from behind his curtain as well, blood staining his teeth. Nirvana stared at the red before her calculating eyes looked at one of the large guards shaking his hand as if to shake out pain. The two of them stood next to each other and began to travel down the asylum side by side. She stood closer to Crane at this point, almost a protective air radiating off her. Not to say it was because she wanted to confirm he was safe, but to say she wanted to make sure he made it to October. They were separated once again, filing into two separate offices to fill out informantion for their records. It was mostly silence, safe for the whispers of different voices all around her. They were both thrown out into the hallway once again. Both walked side by side again, being led to the back of asylum. As they walked, she realized both were being led to Maximum, which caused her to be on her guard. She wasn't supposed to be in Max, it was a conflict of interests. Which is exactly what she said.

"You guys can't put me in Max, it was in our paperwork," Nirvana explained, looking at the guards behind her. All she saw was a roll of some eyes and that was it. Jonathon smirked next to her but remained silent. She blinked but shook her head. It was okay, she could handle max, as long as she had some distance between her and him, she would be fine.

As the door slammed shut, and the guards walked away, she could hear Jonathon laugh from him room. They were fucking neighbors. Arkham once again shows its true colors as she heard him get comfortable on the bed in his cell. She remained still and silent. She didn't want to give him any satisfaction. So she just stood by the door. "Isn't this an interesting turn of events? Not only are you in Max with all collections of patients who you treated and may not be your biggest fan. But me? As your neighbor? Who would have planned something like that?"

Nirvana sat in silence, not giving him the satisfaction.

"Now we'll have all the time in the world to talk, won't we?"

Silence still, not moving from the spot she was standing.

"Now you can tell me all about those hallucinations you've been seeing"

"Now we can talk all the time, isn't that right?"

"Nirvana, will you really be able to ignore me forever?"

Nirvana moved to the bed, sitting on it, then laying all the way down and staring at the ceiling. She was furious. And frightened that hearing his voice echo though her ears would drive her to insanity. She heard his chuckle echo through his own room, and heard him shuffle into a more comfortable position.

"It's okay, I can wait."

Nirvana closed her eyes and breathed in quietly, a form of medication that she needed in that moment. She heard his chuckle again, it making goosebumps raise on her arms and the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She hoped her will could last, and deny him the one thing he wanted, which seemed to be your attention. And she hoped that Joker was going to throw one hell of a Halloween party to make up for the torture she would have to go through for the next 3 months.


End file.
